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The History of Wonbulgyo (Won-Buddhism)
Part 1.
The Dawn of Great Opening
Chapter 1. The New Buddha Land in the East
1. Preface
Master Chŏngsan1), in his preface of Ch‘anggŏnsa2)," wrote "History is the
mirror of the world, because all creation and destruction, prosperity and decay appear in
this history. One who only memorizes names of places, people, or years is not one who
knows the real meaning of history. However, a person who understands the general
spirit of the time, the thoughts of the main figures, the organization of the dharma
system, and the procedure of its activities, is a person who is capable of looking at the
real meaning of history.
This is a person who reflects the inside and the outside of
history like a mirror. Therefore there are several things that our religious order needs
to take into consideration: first, we should carefully study and consider the mission of
our community; second, we should delve deeply into what kind of sage Sotaesan,
Sotaesan was, and gain right understanding of our Order’s dharma; third, we should
examine our activities and procedures to assess how we will create better results in the
future.”
Following Master Chŏngsan's guideline, this book will give a general
description of the history of the Korean peninsula, the teachings of Korea’s spiritual
masters, and the Won Buddhist dharma.
Following the general background will be an
in-depth look at the Ch‘anggŏnsa. Focus will be placed on several key aspects:
1) The
reasons for Sotaesan’s appearance during this period (Park Chung-bin, 1891-1943) as
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the new Buddha; 2) the steps to Sotaesan's enlightenment; 3) Sotaesan's first community
development activities, which exemplified his statemanship and his great endeavor to
help all living beings, and to cure the world of its many illnesses; 4) the introduction of
the religious order to the greater public following the drafting of the Won Buddhist
religious doctrine.
Sotaesan, after fully completing the teachings and systems of Won
Buddhism, entered into nirvana.
Master Chŏngsan inherited Sotaesan's Dharma
Lantern during a time of myriad difficulties and inevitable outcomes. In this History of
Wonbulgyo, Master Chŏngsan's thought and activities will be described. This shall
include 1) his contribution to the foundation of Wonbulgyo; 2) his organization and
management of the systems of the new religious order; 3) his operation of businesses to
aid in the fundamental development of the order; 4) his establishment of structural
facilities to achieve our goal; 5) his editing and publishing of the Scriptures of
Wonbulgyo; 6) and finally, his great teaching:
The Ethics of Triple Identity (K.
Samdong Yully)3).
Furthermore, the History of Wonbulgyo will describe the life and activities of
Master T'aesan,4) who, in accordance with the Law of Wonbulgyo, inherited the title of
Head Dharma Master after the nirvana of Master Chŏngsan.
This book will describe
Taesan's time as Head Dharma Master, focusing on 1) his utmost effort and cooperation
with people for the fruition of the order; 2) his publishing of the Scriptures of
Wonbulgyo; 3) his Movement for the progression of the people in the Dharma Ranks; 4)
his participation in Chonghyŏp5); 5) the Second Gratitude Requital Project as well as his
mission to build a foundation for teaching the dharma overseas 6) his inauguration of
the half centennial anniversary of the Order's foundation; 7) and other notes of general
interest.
2
We will observe the progression of Won Buddhism by reflecting on the first
forty to fifty years. In describing these factual events we will, like a mirror, reflect on
the everlasting development of this order, which continues to develop, and advance
even into its four or five hundredth year.
2. Korean People and the Korean Peninsula
A Group of People, called “The Han People"1), believed that they were the
descendents of Heaven.
They moved to the east looking for the source of the light
and settled down in the Korean peninsula. The Han People established their own
country around five thousand years ago, and developed their bright culture in this
present-day Korean Peninsula.
They lived in harmony with the beautiful mountains
and rivers, good climate, fertile lands, and abundant products.
The Han People, who respected brightness, revered propriety, and loved
peace, were venerated as the “Noble Country of Prosperity in the East.”
never invaded neighboring countries without a valid reason.
Koreans
However, they never
hesitated to fight and defend their country against unjust invasions.
The word
"Han," literally implies Oneness and Greatness. Many sages appeared generationafter-generation.
The fact that the great sage appeared among the Han People, is
nothing but a great blessing, for he helped to unite the world into one household with
a wholesome morality.
The Korean peninsula, located at the end of the eastern Continent of Asia,
stretches from the north to the south, and is surrounded by two continents on the left
and the right. The Korean peninsula could adequately become the gateway to many
cultures of the world because of her wonderful and natural location. One side is
connected with the continent and fthree other sides are surrounded by the ocean.
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Moreover, Mt. Kŭmgang is one of the most splendid mountains in the
world. Sotaesan said, "Mt. Kŭmgang will be designated as an international park in
the near future...
This country will become famous to the world on account of Mt.
Kŭmgang."
From the early history, many prophecies relating to Buddhist mythology
predicted that the Korean peninsula, a country of morning calm, would become a
New Buddha Land in the East. This New Land would begin with Mt. Kŭmgang, and
its glory would be boundlessly prosperous throughout time.
3.
Religions in Korea
Although there were many beliefs in the Korean peninsula from the early
ancient period, Koreans traditionally worshipped the Sun from the beginning of their
history. Later, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism were introduced into Korea as
a result of easier access to and communication with China. Each religion influenced
and shaped Korean spirituality in various periods, contributing significantly to the
development of Korean culture, which in turn influenced other neighboring
countries. There is also evidence of Islam's existence in Korea.
In the modern period, in the tidal wave of Korea's opening to other countries,
the West introduced Christianity. Along with the introduction of Christianity,
Tonghak (K. Eastern Learning) synthesized the teachings of Confucianism,
Buddhism, and Taoism. Tonghak, lamenting the decline of his country, arose
against Sŏhak(K. Western Learning: Christianity), insisting on "Securing Country,
Comforting People" and "Saving Broadly, All Lives." While Tonghak widely
spread, particularly in the region of Honam (South-western part of Korea) with its
various denominations, Chūngsang'yo arose to become one of the main religions
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alongside Tonghak. Similarly, many new religions, waiting for the Great Opening
Era, arose to combine the traditional religious beliefs of Korea.
4. The Traces of the Sages
Shakyamuni Buddha expounded the idea of the three periods of Buddha
Dharma, namely:
the dharma of correct belief (the period of orthodoxy and vigor), the
dharma of semblance (the period of scholastics), and the dharma of decline (the period
of termination).
He also predicted the cycle of the weakening and reviving of the
Buddha Dharma.
He predicted that it would occur either in three divided periods or
five divided periods of 500 years after his nirvāna. The myth of the Maitreya Buddha
explains that the Main Buddha will appear to the world in the future. This myth is
widely known in Buddhism.
The belief that identifies Mt. Kŭmgang as the sacred place where many
Bodhisattvas with great dharma power will arise, and this country as the Buddha
Land(K. 佛國緣土), draws our attention to the popular ritual ceremonies that
symbolize the awaiting of the Maitreya Buddha. These ceremonies occur in Korea
more than any other country. Those prophets predict that the Korean peninsula will
be the new Buddha Land, and these beliefs are deeply rooted in the hearts of the
Korean people.
Following this, many familiar as well as unfamiliar sages, through their
esoteric teachings, stories of prophets (圖讖, K. Toch‘am), or long poems,
encouraged Koreans to have deep faith in the prophets, and in their prophesies
concerning the Korean peninsula. These prophets spoke of the future greatness and
gracefulness of the country, and of Korea gaining the respect of all the people of the
world. Also, around 50 years before the founding of Wonbulgyo (1860-1864),
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Ch'oe, Suun (Che-u, 1824-1864), the founder of Tonghak, said “As the Great Way of
T'aegŭk (K. Great Ultimate) appears in the world after the decline of Confucianism,
Buddhism, and Taoism, the fortunate will gradually accept it and teach people in the
world without my presence.”
Ten years before the foundation of Wonbulgyo (1900-1909), Kang, Chūngsan
(Ilsun, 1871-1909) prophesized the appearance of a new Buddha who would open a
great religious order in the coming world. He said, "I am an alternative
teacher. Christians await the Second Coming of Jesus, Buddhists wait for the
appearance of Meitreya, Tonghak followers wait for the reappearance of Choi,
Suun. Therefore, whenever that one person appears, all of them will follow that person
as their teacher."
5. The Time of Great Change
When Sotaesan came to this world, it was a period of great change never before
known in human history. Externally to Korea, beginning from the late 19th century,
military imperialism of powerful countries spread widely, finally resulting in world war.
Furthermore, the rapid development of scientific civilization led to the weakening of the
human spirit. The introduction of Western material "civilization" into Korean culure
resulted in moral corruption and social turmoil.
It had a devastating impact on
Koreans and many suffered from the loss of their possessions.
People also suffered
under the Korean government's unreasonable discriminative system and its severe
suppression.
Sotaesan, deploring this crucial crisis of the time, declared "Owing to the
development of scientific civilization, the power of material things has grown stronger,
but the power of the human spirit, while making use of this materialism, has grown
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weaker.
Consequently, human beings have been forced to follow the rules of
materialism's power.
things.
Human beings are inevitably enslaved to the power of material
So how can one be sure that human beings will ever cease to suffer in the bitter
seas of misery?" Thus Sotaesan concluded, "From now on, we will build a new world
from an old world."
6.
Symptoms of the declining dharma and the appearance of a Great Teacher
At that time, Korean religions were in a stage of confusion and chaos. Among
the traditional beliefs and the three major religions--Confucianism, Buddhism, and
Taoism--Buddhism changed into a practice of superstition similar to Shamanism.
Confucianism continued practicing ostentatious rituals and empty theories.
Taoism
remained in the shadow of skills hard and long to realize and in the shadow of the ideas
of apathy and no-working.
Sŏhak(K.; lit. Western Learning, Christianity) rarely
survived under the severe persecution. Tonghak (K.; lit. Eastern Learning, Chŏndogyo)
could not function under the severe suppression by the Korean government against its
socialistic, peasant movements.
Other religious sects, of the seductive and false
teachings, further caused an increase in confusion among the people. Therefore, people
wandered in this confusion, hiding their strongest hopes for a new thought and a new
religion brought by a new sage. It was at this time that Sotaesan with his great vow
came again through the endless kalpas to this world.
After Sotaesan's physical death, Master Chŏngsan wrote this epitaph in memory
of Sotaesan, "As the four seasons keep rotating and the sun and the moon alternate and
illuminate in the universe, myriad things achieve the way of coming into being. In the
world, sentient beings are indebted to the beneficence of deliverance, while Buddhas
succeed one after another and sages transmit the laws [Dharma] from one to the other."
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Master Chŏngsan then made a clear statement that Sotaesan came to this world
as the Main Buddha to build a new religious order of the New Buddha.
He stated,
"Ever since Śākyamuni Buddha opened his order at Grdhrakuta, his teachings passed
the period of orthodoxy and vigor and the period of semblance, finally reaching the
period of decline and termination. The correct way was not followed in this last period
as the world was full of false doctrines.
The spirit lost its power to materialism, which
was ruling the world. Consequently, the bitter seas of misery, where sentient beings go
tormented, became deeper and deeper. This is the occasion when Sotaesan, our great
teacher, came to this world again."6)
Chapter 2.
Founding Master Sotaesan(少太山 大宗師)
1. Birth of Sotaesan and his Youth
The surname of Sotaesan (K. Taejongsa, 大宗師) is “Park”(朴), his first name
is “Chung-bin”(lit. “Relight”, 重彬), his religious epithet is “Sotaesan” (lit. “Young
Great Mountain”, 少太山).7) He was born on March 27, 1891 of the lunar calendar,
some 25 years before the birth of Wonbulgyo.
Sotaesan grew up in the village of Yongch'on, Killryong-li of Paeksu-myon,
Yongkwang-kun(全羅南道 靈光郡 白岫面 吉龍里), which is located on the
Southwestern coast of the South Chŏlla Province. His father's name was Park, Hoekyong(dharma name; epithet: Songsam, 法名晦傾 字成三) and his mother's was Yu,
Chŏng-ch'ŏn (dharma name, Yu family of Kangnūng, 江陵劉氏法名正天). Park, Hoekyong is the descendent of Park, Hyok-gŏ-se, the first king of Shilla
Kingdom(新羅始祖王朴赫居世), his 'Pon‘gwan'(K. original hometown, 本貫) being
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Miryang(密陽). His distinctive family lineage also included Milsŏng, son of
Kyŏngmyŏng, the Silla king(景明王長子密成大君).
After living in the area of Yangju-kun(楊州郡) for several centuries, Sotaesan's
grandfather--from the 7th generation of Sotaesan's family--moved to the Yŏngkwang
area. After staying in the village of Maŭp-li of Kunsŏ-myon for a short time, the
family moved in 1884 to the village of Killryong-li, 7 years before Sotaesan's birth.
Sotaesan's father was poor and therefore did not get the opportunity to receive
an education; nevertheless his innate wisdom received much praise from those around
him. Sotaesan’s mother's nature was generous, and was similarly praised by the people
of the village. Sotaesan was the third son.10)
In his youth, Sotaesan was conscientious and magnanimous. He carefully
watched over all things and accounted for them without any carelessness of sight,
hearing, speech, or action.
Favoring to follow his elders, he was curious and loved to
ask about their activities and their explanations of their activities. He always kept his
word, and acted on his promises to other people regardless of difficult
situations. When he was very young, he sent away a big serpent in front of a stream
without being frightened. When he was only four years old, he surprised his father by
intentionally giving false information about the coming of the Tonhak revolutionary
armies. When he was 10 years old, in keeping a promise he had made, young
Chungbin upset his teacher by allowing the teacher's grandson to start a fire at his
home. These episodes show one of the aspects of Sotaesan.
He was either criticized
as being the cause of big problems, or was highly appraised by his neighbors as a great
leader.
2.
Raising Questionings by Sotaesan
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One day, when Sotaesan was seven years old, he looked up at the beautiful clear
sky that did not have a single cloud.
He also observed the mountains that were filled
with pure energy in the four directions.
Suddenly, he raised a question, "That sky is
high and vast, how did it get so clean?", then another question arose, "How does the
wind and clouds arise unexpectedly from such a clean sky?"
These initial questions
were the catalyst for more inquiry. From the age of nine, he started to reflect on
himself so that his own existence became the subject of questioning. As he thought of
his parents, brothers, and sisters, the relationship of his parents, brothers, and sisters
became subjects of question.
the object of questioning.
While thinking about these many things, much became
When thinking of day and night, the change of the day and
night became an object of questioning, and all these questions made Sotaesan restless.
Following the order of his parents, he attended a private Confucian school (K.
Sŏdang), at the age of ten, to learn the Confucian classics,11) but his heart was so
preoccupied with questions, that he did not focus on his studies nor did he have the
desire to play with other children his own age. 12)
3. Sotaesan's Searching for the Way
Day and night, Sotaesan continued to toil over his questions and earnestly
sought to find the answers to them. At age eleven, he attended his ancestorial rituals at
the mountain village of Maup.
After watching an ancestrial ritual that followed a ritual
ceremony for the Mountain Spirit (K. Sanshillyong or Sanshin, “Mountain God”), he
raised a question with his close relative. After hearing about the great mysterious
power of the Mountain Spirit, and decided to visit the Mountain Spirit.
After that day, he went to Sambat Peak everyday. Sambat Peak is a small
mountain behind his village, which is part of the Kusu Mountains.
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Sotaesan offered
fruits from the mountain and mindfully placed food in the open space of the Court Rock
(K. Madang bawi). He bowed in the four directions all day long, returning home only
after sunset. Sometimes he would stay at the Court Rock overnight. He prayed for
five years without missing a single day regardless of precarious or harsh weather. At
first, Sotaesan prayed at Sambat Peak without informing his parents. However, his
mother eventually discovered the truth about his daily journey to the mountains and was
moved by his sincerity and dedication.
She greatly supported his passion to find the
answers to his questions about life.
At age fifteen, Sotaesan married Yang Ha-un, who lived in the Hong-kok
village. The following year, he visited his parents-in-law for a New Year’s greeting.
He overheard stories about certain sages of Taoism who assisted the hero in solving
problems.
These stories were from the two novels the Pakt'aebu-jŏn (Story of
Pakt'aebu) and the Choung-jŏn (Story of Choung).
and led to a great change in his mind.
This discussion intrigued Sotaesan,
Although he practiced diligently in the
mountains for five years, Sotaesan never saw the Mountain Spirit. Therefore, he decided
that meeting the sages would be the next step. He thought to himself, "I have not seen
the Mountain Spirit in these five years; therefore, it cannot be certain whether the
Mountain Spirit exists. So, if I give a great effort to go and see a sage, like the main
figure of the novel, I will be able to see whether there is a sage or not."
With this in mind, whenever he met a stranger or a beggar, he tested him to see
whether they were a sage or not. Also, when he was told about a stranger or a hidden
sage, he never failed to go and see him. He sometimes invited them to stay at his home,
and Sotaesan would test them. Sotaesan sincerely searched with great effort to find his
master for six years (1906-1911).13)
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4.
Sotaesan's entrance in Samāadhi
Starting from a young age, Sotaesan sought the Way, without showing any
concern for studies or earning a living. Although his father did not understand his
intentions in the beginning, after watching his son’s sincere effort, he slowly became a
great supporter of Sotaesan. Sotaesan was unsuccessful in meeting a spiritual master,
so his father built a small house nearby the Court Rock for his son to practice mind
concentration. During Sotaesan's search for the truth, his father helped him enormously.
His father passed away in October, 1910, six years before the Wonbulgyo era.
Sotaesan was twenty years old.
Sotaesan lost his father, the great supporter of his life and of his struggle to
achieve the Way. Sotaesan’s eldest brother and his younger brother were adopted by
his relatives.
His elder brother died at a young age; therefore Sotasesan took on the
responsibility to serve his mother and his family members.
The suffering this caused
to Sotaesan is ineffable.
In addition, although he met a large number of people in those six years,
Sotaesan could not meet a proper spiritual master to guide him in achieving the
Way. He gradually gave up the idea of finding spiritual masters beginning at the age of
twenty-two, and deeply thought to himself, "What should I do in the future?"
Though
he occasionally thought of his livelihood and felt suffering from time to time, he
concentrated with a single mind from morning to evening and from evening to
morning. He sometimes chanted incantations (mantra) that appeared in his mind.14)
In order to devote himself to ascetic practice, he went to Yŏnhwabong (lit.
"Peak of Lotus Flower"), a mountain in Koch'ang County of the Chŏlla-pukto Province
(全北高敞郡心元面蓮花峰). He concentrated on his meditation for several months
during the winter. Around the age of twenty-five, after he returned from his practice at
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Yŏnhwabong, Sotaesan abandoned the question of "What should I do with this question
of Seeking the Truth in the future?" He then entered into a state of non-consciousness,
in which he was not conscious of his own actions.
During his ascetic practice, he
moved his house twice and experienced the detoriation of his house twice. His
predicament was so difficult that he lost all desire even to eat breakfast or dinner.
Unfortunately, this ascetic practice led to the development of a stomach tumour as well
as strange blotches all over his body. He soon became regarded as a living corpse
which stirred much ostracism and criticism among his neighbors.
Sometimes Sotaesan
fell into a kind of unawareness that gave a calmness of no disctinction. He also fell
into a state of mind that darkened his memory.
His bizarre behavior alarmed his
family and led his wife to start a prayer for his recovery.
5. Sotaesan's Enlightenment
On March 26, 1916 of the lunar calendar15), Sotaesan was sitting in absorption
(samādhi) in the early morning.
As he meditated in his house in Norumok village, his
mind was suddenly refreshed with a new energy. He immediately went out of his room
and looked in the four directions, seeing the clear sky (K. Ch'ŏn'gi: lit., "heavenly
energy") of the dawn still lit with the bright stars.16)
He strolled in the court of his house, and started to think of various things.
He
reflected on his previous livelihood which was full of hardship and started to wonder
how he could avoid its roughness. He then thought about combing his hair, cutting his
nails, and washing his face once the sun came out. When the sun started to shine
brightly, Sotaesan looked for materials to clean his body. This type of behavior was
unusual to his family and so they could not help but look on as Sotaesan continued to
act strangely.
This was the initial awakening (K. Chuljŏng: awakening from samādhi)
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of Sotaesan, what is called “Great Samadhi,” or “the deep umbilical contemplation” (K.
Tae-ipchŏng or Naga-taejŏng).17)
After eating breakfast, Sotaesan, overheard a discussion between a few
neighbors regarding the contents of the Tonggyŏng Taejŏn of Tonghak, as follows: "I
[K. Ch'ŏnje: Heavenly Lord] have a hallowed amulet charm. Its name is a Miraculous
Medicine. Its form is the Great Ultimate (K. T'aegŭk; C. T'ai-chi). Again, its form is
a Kung-gung (a bow and a bow)." (K. Oyu-Yŏngbu Kimyŏng-Sŏnyak Kihyŏng-T'aegŭk
Uhyŏng-Kunggung, 吾有靈符其名仙藥其形太極又形弓弓).18)
At the particular
moment of hearing this passage, Sotaesan understood its meaning very clearly and a
strange feeling came over him.
Later, two Confucians passed by Sotaesan's house.
They took a rest there and
discussed the passage in the Chuyŏk (K.; C. I-ching): "A great person accommodates,
having the virtue of Heaven and Earth, the brightness of the sun and the moon, the
sequence of the four seasons, and having the good and evil of the spirit." (K. Taein-yŏch'ŏnji-hap-kidŏk yŏ-irwol-hap-kimyŏng yŏ-sasi-hap-kisŏ yŏ-kuishin-hap-ki-kirhyung,
大人與天地合其德
與日月合其明
與四時合其序
與鬼神合其吉凶).20)
When
Sotaesan heard this passage, he understood with perfect clarity its meaning. After these
incidents, he felt different and considered that "these might be evidences of one's
enlightened mind." Hence, Sotaesan recalled all the doubts and questions (K. Ŭidu)21)
he previously raised, and realized their meanings with perfect clarity with a single
thought. He finally had achieved great enlightenment.22)
Sotaesan then declared, "All things in the universe are of a unitary noumenal
nature and all dharmas originate from the unitary fundamental source. From this, the
principle of neither arising nor ceasing and the causal law of karmic retribution, being
mutually grounded on each other, have formed a round, connected framework."23)
14
Thereafter, the status of Sotaesan's mind became brighter, and his skinny face
and body were full of energy and exuberance. He gradually recovered from his illness,
and anyone who saw him was fascinated by this remarkable change.
Kilyong-ni, where Sotaesan grew up, was a place of unusual poverty and a rare
place for learning. Sotaesan studied for two years without learning about the tenets and
histories of certain religious organizations. Sotaesan with his own mind and on his own
accord, raised questions without seeing and hearing any outside influences.
With
utmost sincerity, he searched for the Way, and entered into deep samādhi, thus
achieving great enlightenment. He experienced a complete awakening to the greatness
and smallness, being and nonbeing of all things in the universe, realizing the Principle
of Ilwon.
His true nature was without delusion throughout the endless kalpas.24)
Chapter 3.
Sotaesan’s Statecraft of Saving all living beings and Curing the
World
1.
The Origin of Sotaesan’s Dharma
Following his enlightenment, and while recalling the process of his
enlightenment, he surmised that "It is difficult to know the process [of enlightenment].
Generally speaking, there was a great assistance of Saŭn (K. Fourfold Grace) in the
process of my practice and enlightenment."
Sotaesan thought again, "There are three major religions in Asia: Confucianism,
Buddhism, and Taoism.
Recently, several new religions have emerged in Korea.
Although there are a few religions, I have not examined their doctrines in
detail. Therefore, I will refer to their Scriptures and make a comparison with my own
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attainment of the Truth.”
He asked his neighbors to obtain various books and read
them in their entirety.
The religious texts that Sotaesan read were as follows: the Four Classics and
the Hyokyŏng (C. Hsiaoching: Filial Piety) of Confucianism; The Diamond Sutra (K.
Kumgang-panya-paramil-gyŏng; C. Chin kang pan jo po lo mi ching; S. Vajracchedikaprajnaparamita-sutra), the Sonyo (Essentials of Ch'an), the Pulgyo taejŏn (Great
Canon of Buddhism), the P'alsang-nok (Eight Aspects of the Buddha's Life) of
Buddhism; the Ŭmbugyŏng (C. Yun-fu Ching), the Okch'ugyong (C. Yu-shu Ching) of
Taoism; the Tonggyŏng Taejŏn (Great Canon of Eastern Learning) and the Kasa
(Hymns) of Ch'ŏndogyo; and the Old and New Testaments of Christianity.25) Sotaesan
discovered that he had a particularly good understanding of The Diamond Sutra because
it had once come to him in a dream.
After his extensive reading of these Scriptures, Sotaesan said, "That which I
have known has already been known by the ancient sages." He continued, "Because all
the meanings of the Scriptures are generally proper, there is little that should be cast
away. However, there are different degrees of depth to be found in the Truth. The
Buddha Dharma is unsurpassed in showing the fundamental Truth, and Sakyamuni
Buddha is truly the sage of all sages." He stated, "Though I have attained the Way
[supreme enlightenment] without any teacher's guidance, I have, upon reflecting on
many points, realized that my former aspiration and the course of my ascetic practice
for attaining the Way coincide with what Śākyamuni Buddha did and said. Hence, I
choose Śākyamuni Buddha as the origin of my enlightenment." Then, he firmly
concluded, "When I open a religious order in the future, for the main tenets of its
doctrine, I will establish a perfect and complete oneness with the Buddha Dharma."
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2.
The First Dharma Discourses
Sotaesan, after reading and internally grasping the basic scriptures of various
religions and examining the social situation of the day, felt the urgency of resurrecting
spiritual morality. He presented the Founding Motto, "With the great unfolding of the
material civilization, let there be a great unfolding of spirituality".
With his ideas in regard to the social situation, Sotaesan presented the First
Dharma Discourse for the establishment of a new religious order:
The Essential
Dharmas on Self-Cultivation, The Essential Dharmas on Regulating the Family, The
Essential Dharmas on How the Strong and the Weak May Evolve, The Essential
Dharmas on the Preparation of Leaders.
The Essential Dharma on Self-Cultivation is to prepare oneself with sufficient
learning in accordance with the times, and to be a new person in the new world by
securing in one's self, the ways of Cultivation [of Self-Power], Inquiry [into Affairs and
Principles], and Choice [in Action].
The Essential Dharma on Regulating the Family is to create a new family and
to establish a new country by carefully contemplating such ideas as occupation, savings
with diligence, education and communication, morality and obeying the laws.
The Essential Dharma on How the Strong and the Weak May Evolve is that the
strong, in helping the weak, will grow stronger.
mutual benefit.
This is based on the principle of
On the other hand, the weak without any animosity should see the
stronger as the leader to establish a new world.
The Essential Dharma on the Preparation of Leaders is to sufficiently realize the
statecraft of saving sentient beings and curing the world.
Included in this is the
understanding that the leader is more knowledgeable than those who are led.
But one
leads without condescending or losing the confidence of those who are led, and without
17
exploiting those under one’s guidance for personal profit. The leader does this by
assuring the balance of his or her knowledge and conduct.
3.
Skillful Means for the First Salvation and Nine Disciples
After announcing the Motto and his Dharmas (Teachings), Sotaesan thought
"What I enlightened to is the Right Essence of the Way and Virtue, and my purpose is
to establish a new religious order in the new world, thus to lead all sentient beings to the
boundless Paradise. However, I have been treated as a cripple, and have never been a
part of any religious order. Also, since the people of this period do not know the Right
Dharma in their daily lives, and think only of fallacies and false faiths, what should I do
in the future?"
And so he waited for the proper time to spread the Dharma.
At that time, the sects of Chŭngsangyo were widely spread, influencing people
even in the area of Kilryong-li. Sotaesan made a decision to gradually teach people the
Right Dharma after collecting the people's mind and beliefs.
Around July of the first
year of Won Buddhism (Wonbulgyo Era), he volunteered to become a member of
Chŭngsangyo and underwent the process of rituals. After performing the ritual
ceremony for seven days, he enraptured people with his words of wisdom, which were
considered beyond normal thoughts and understanding.
While addressing his
teachings to the people, over forty from the various neighborhoods became his
followers in a span of a few months.
Sotaesan communicated with his forty-plus followers for four to five months.
But most of them gathered for vain glory and had an unstable life.
Therefore, Sotaesan
postponed teaching them until later, but selected eight disciples who were sincere and
firm in faith in December of the first year of Won Buddhism (1916).
The first
disciples were: Kim Sŏng-sŏp(金成燮), Kim Sŏng-ku(金聖久), Park Han-sŏp(朴漢碩),
18
O Chae-kyŏm(吳在謙), Yee In-myŏng(李仁明), Park Kyŏng-mun(朴京文), Ryu Sŏngkug(劉成國), Yee Chae-p'ung(李載馮). After that, Sotaesan welcomed Song Tokun(宋道君). They were the first nine disciples of the new religious order.
Among the nine disciples, Kim Sŏng-sŏp maintained a close friendship with the
family of Sotaesan, and was like a brother and assisted Sotaesan greatly before and after
the period of deep meditation.
Park Han-sŏp was the younger brother of Sotaesan.
Ryu Sŏng-kug was Sotaesan's uncle, his mother's brother.
nephew of Sotaesan.
Park Kyŏng-mun was a
Yee In-myŏng, Kim Sŏng-ku, and O Chae-kyŏm were friends of
Sotaesan. Yee Chae-p'ung from the Kunsŏ region was introduced by O Chae-kyŏm.
And Song To-kun, who was from the Sŏngju region in the Kyŏngbuk province, became
Sotaesan's disciple in March of the third year of Won Buddhism (1918, 戊午), after his
long search for the Right Dharma.
4.
The First Organization of T'an (Group, 組團) and Training
In order to teach and edify all people of the world in the new future, Sotaesan
devised a method of organizing practitioners. The essence of this method was to train
all people under the teaching of one master in an equal and rapid manner, regardless of
location.
More specifically, a T'an (unit) consists of nine people and one of whom is the
leader (단장) who will teach and guide the T'an's practice and religious affairs.
When
nine religious units are organized, the nine leaders of nine units will make another,
higher-level Tan with a leader who will teach and guide them. The leaders should be
reorganized
by
applying
the
order
of
twenty-eight
stars
角亢氐房心尾箕斗牛女虛危室壁奎數胃昴畢觜參井鬼柳星張翼軫).
(二十八宿:
Then,
even
though the number of people reaches the hundreds of thousands, they will still be
19
guided.
The organization is very simple, yet greatly adequate because of the merits
always given to the nine people.
According to their vow and practice, Sotaesan divided the units into a simple
hierarchy of four levels or units.
The units were as follows:
1) the Supreme Unit (K.
Suwi Tan), 2) the Ordinary Unit(K. Pot'ong Tan), 3) The Reverends Unit (K.
Chŏnmuch'ulshin Tan), and 4) The Lay Won Buddhist Unit(K. Kŏjinch'uljin Tan).
Applying this method, Sotaesan organized the male Supreme Unit on July 26 of
the second year of Won Buddhism (1917); with Sotaesan as the leader and the
remaining eight members comprising the first Supreme Unit of WonBulgyo. The eight
members were Yee Chae-p'ung in the direction of Kŏn(乾方), Yee In-myŏng in the
direction of Kam(坎方), Kim Sŏng-ku in the direction of Kan(艮方), O Chae-kyŏm in
the direction of Chin(震方), Park Kyŏng-mun in the direction of Son(巽方), Park Hansŏp in the direction of Lee, Ryu Sŏng-kug in the direction of Kon, Kim Sŏng-sŏp in the
direction of T'ae (兌方).
But the position of the center was left empty for a year, until
Sotaesan appointed Song To-kun(宋道君) to the central position
After organizing the first unit, the faith of the members gradually
deepened. However, what his disciples wanted to know was the difficult, mysterious
teachings and the unpredictable, mysterious skills. They wanted to achieve this easily,
without trying to realize the truth itself or the righteousness of humanity's moral
principles. Therefore, Sotaesan performed rituals to Heaven in order to bind their
minds together, and he advised them in their diligent practice, saying his teachings
comne from Heaven.
After that Sotaesan established various dharmas and asked his disciples to
gather for dharma meetings on the 1st, 11th, and 21st of each month. At each meeting, he
penalized those who failed to follow his instuctions.
20
He asked his disciples in advance
to check their minds during the previous ten days, placing blue, red, or black dots in the
book, “Sungkyeo-myongsirok”.
His disciples examined the strengthening and
weakening of their faith as well as putting the faith into action.
They all got a little
fearful and also were happy, and their union, faith, and devotion were indescribable.
5. Pobui-taejon and the Period of Foundation
Starting from the second year of Won Buddhism (1917) Sotaesan dictated many
aphorisms and poetical compositions to, Kim Songsop.
This collection was later
edited with the title, Pobui-taejon (The Great Canon of the Essence of Laws).
According to the biographer, the messages contained in the collection were so profound
that Sotaesan’s disciples could not fully decipher their meanings.
Although the
meaning of the writings may have seemed obscure to his followers there were several
main gists that Sotaesan wanted to highlight. First, he wanted to emphasize that the
vein of true dharma, which had disappeared for a while, would appear again; that the
general trend of the world was such that when unreasonable times were gone,
reasonable times were sure to come; and that a new religious order would be established.
The members rejoiced after reciting the aphorisms and the recitation proved to
be a great help in strengthening their faith in his teaching. However, after Sotaesan
finished drafting the doctrine for the Order he instructed it to be buried, believing that it
would not be suitable as the definite doctrine for delivering countless sentient beings.
The first section of the introduction and eleven stanzas were memorized by some of his
disciples and recorded.
In the third year of Won Buddhism (1918) Sotaesan proclaimed his timetable
for establishing the new religious order. The history of the order was to be marked by
the number of generations starting with 1916, the year of his enlightenment, as the first
21
year of the order’s era and each generation consisting of thirty-six years thereafter.
The first generation of establishment would consist of three periods of twelve years
each.
The first twelve years would be for establishing the spiritual and financial
foundation of the order and for meeting people who had an affinity with the order’s
foundation. The following twelve years would be for formulating the doctrine and
editing the teaching materials.
The final twelve years would be for cultivating men
and women of ability who would then spread the law and progagate the law.
Chapter 4.
Groundwork for Founding the Order
1. Savings Union
In August of the second year of Won Buddhism (1917), the Savings Union,
under the leadership of Sotaesan, was established. He said to his disciples, “In order
for us to study and practice moral training and to carry out public work, a union has to
be established so that a portion of the money can be saved for studying and doing public
works.
As the groundwork for the establishment of a new religious order, I suggest
that a savings union be established to prepare for many future works.”
All the members made an effort to abstain from alcohol and smoking, instead
saving their money for a larger cause. Furthermore, the members were frugal in terms
of their clothing and food. Instead of taking rest during holidays, they would work
harder in order to save more money.
calling it ‘gratitude rice’.
Their wives also saved small portions of rice,
The memorial rite offered to the realm of truth, was also
abolished. Sotaesan, as the head of the union, encouraged all these savings so that
within several months, the amount of money accumulated reached 200 Won.
22
Sotaesan asked that charcoal be purchased with the savings of his disciples, and
the money (400 Won) borrowed from a wealthy person in a neighboring town, and his
own personal money (400 Won) that he received by selling off his furniture. Seven to
eight months later due to the great demand for charcoal during World War I, the price of
charcoal rose significantly and the union accumulated a big fortune within one year. The
disciples were extremely happy with the unexpected success and believed that the realm
of truth was helping them.
They were more encouraged and their faith was
strengthened.
2.
The Embankment Project
In March of the third year of Won Buddhism (1918), Sotaesan collected the
funds and said, “With the money earned we can carry out important work.
plan in mind which you can think over.”
I have one
Pointing to the riverside tidal land in front of
Kilyoung-ni, Sotaesan said, “Look at that tidal land!
That piece of land may be
deserted, but we can build a dam and turn this tidal land into a rice field.
It will take
several years to complete, but it will surely help society and even the nation.
How
about starting this project for the benefit of the public welfare?” Members during
Sotaesan’s period were extremely faithful and vowed to do the project with a pure mind
and devotion.
The construction work for an embankment commenced the next day.
The villagers, who had never seen any undertaking like this, expressed
cynicism and ridicule. But the members of the union paid no attention to the criticisms,
and silently concentrated on the embanking work with unwavering will, full devotion
and great courage.
Despite the hot and cold weather, the members encouraged the
workers and at the same time worked themselves with no sign of fatigue.
23
The project was completed after a year of labor in the third month Won
Buddhist year 4 (1919).
for farming.
Approximately, twenty-five acres of tidal land was reclaimed
Sotaesan named the farmland “the farmland reclaimed with toiling and
miling” (Chongwanpyong).
Sotaesan’s direct supervision and spiritual guidance, as
well as the selfless work of the nine disciples enabled the project to be successful.
This was not only a model of a new life--wholeness of both spirit and body—but it also
provided the economic foundation for a new religious order.
After the completion of the project, the members’ work was not yet over. It
took some time for the dam to settle and a lot of work followed.
In addition some
money was lost for the following four to five years due to the salt in the land.
Several
years after the completion of the project, the members alongside many volunteers
continued to contribute to the cause both financially and physically.
A special donator
was Yoo Chungchun and seventeen other people. (See appendix one)
3.
The First Won Buddhist Temple and Carrying out Spiritual Practice
and Public Work
Sotaesan had a nine-room house built at the foot of Ongnyo Peak.
Construction of the house started in October 1918 and was finished in December of the
same year.
This was the first temple of the new order.
Before the establishment of
this new house, the nine members met at a Confucian shrine, and later at an inn on the
bank of a nearby river.
inconvenience.
But the meeting place was too small and created much
That is why the first temple was built.
The members frequently
worked on the embankment project, and helped to constuct the temple at other times.
They climbed mountains in order to cut trees for lumber and worked clay despite the
cold and snow.
On the ridge beam of the newly built house, Sotaesan wrote:
24
With Ilwon (unitary circle) as the loom,
The sun and the moon as the weaving shuttle,
The great doctrine of spring and autumn
Shall be woven.
To this he added
The pine is standing
having gathered the remaining spring from all other trees
The brook is roaring,
having gathered the drizzle from a thousand mountain peaks.
Upon the completion of the temple, Sotaesan had little time for leisure, as he
was responsible for supervising the embankment project during the day and often giving
sermons to his disciples in the evening at the temple.
The members of the union
rejoiced in listening to their master’s sermons at night in spite of their hard labor during
the day.
They were making gradual improvement in both public service and moral
cultivation. They were becoming trustworthy and independent, and their superstitious
attitude was being supplanted by faith in the truth.
Their visible improvements
signified that the day for the opening of a new religious order was slowly approaching.
4. Prayer of the Nine Disciples
In March of the fourth year of Won Buddhism (1919) with the embankment
project almost completed, Sotaesan said to his nine disciples, "At present, materialism
has an increasing influence in the world today, while the minds of human beings are
becoming weak.
In these circumstances, individuals, homes, societies and nations are
not able to maintain equilibrium and must remain in endless suffering. Can we who
have made up our minds to help other people neglect this situation?
25
We know of
saints and sages who, with utmost sincerity, gave prayers for all living beings and
received a response from the realm of Truth. Now I suggest that this is the time for us
to pray incessantly to Heaven and Earth until the realm of Truth responds to our prayers.
Then people can be the masters of material things, instead of being tempted by them.
Your mind is equivalent to the mind of the realm of Truth; your virtue will meet with
the virtue of Heaven and Earth when the last bit of self-centered desire has left your
mind. Everything will then turn out successfully, as you desired.
You should be aware
of the fact that you possess the ability to impress the will of Heaven and at the same
time should always be aware of your own responsibility to save all sentient beings."
The nine disciples felt great honour and happiness and asked for guidance from
Sotaesan.
Beginning in April 1919, they offered prayers three days of the month (the 6th,
16th, 26th) with ten days of ablutions in between the prayer days as directed by their
master.
They purified their minds and hearts and observed the precepts more
rigorously. On the prayer day, they all gathered in the dharma room of the nine room
house and received instructions from Sotaesan, and then departed to their designated
prayer sites.
The prayer was offered at night from 10:00 to 12:00 and afterwards everyone
returned to the dharma room.
synchronize the prayer time.
Each member was given a watch so that he could
Each of the nine disciples was assigned a mountaintop as
the site of prayer with the one in the center surrounded by eight others. Prayers
consisted of each member setting up a flag of the union at their respective locations,
preparing incense and a bowl of clear water, bowing and confessing, reading the prayer,
and reciting a mantra.
26
5. The Blood Seal on White Paper and the Holy Event of Dharma Authentication
On August 21, in the fourth year of Won Buddhism (1919) Sotaesan said to the
members, “The devotion with which you have been offering prayers is truly
praiseworthy.
To reflect on my own experience, however, it is not sincere enough to
move the will of the realm of Truth.
your mind.
It is because there is some egoistic element left in
If annihilating your ego can propagate the correct dharma, would you
carry it out?”
To this, the nine disciples said in unison, “Yes, we will do it.”
Sotaesan continued more solemnly, “There is an old saying, ‘One sacrifices oneself in
order to preserve one’s integrity.’ There were some who performed miracles by
following this principle.
How could the numinous spirits of Heaven and Earth not be
affected if you gave your life for the well-being of all sentient beings?
In the near
future, a great Way with correct dharma will be established in the world and the
disturbed mind of mankind will be corrected thereby, contributing to the blessings of
sentient beings.
If so, then you will be the saviors of the world, and the hidden merit
of yours will be eternal.
Hence, you must show your views on this matter from your
true hearts.”
The nine disciples were downcast for a while but in the end agreed with their
whole heart that they would sacrifice their lives.
With great admiration, Sotaesan told
them to carry out the sacrifice at their designated prayer site the next prayer day after
ten days of ablutions.
On August 21, the nine disciples gathered in the dharma room, and Sotaesan
ordered them to arrange a bowl of clear water and daggers on the table.
On the table
there was a white sheet of paper on which was written, “Sacrifice with no Regret” and
Sotaesan ordered them to press their bare thumbs under their name as a form of
signature. Then they were asked to prostrate and offer a silent confession on their
27
determination to sacrifice their lives on behalf of all sentient beings.
Sotaesan
examined the paper and saw that the places where they had pressed their bare thumbs
had turned into nine fingerprints in blood. Showing the paper to them, Sotaesan said,
“Take a look at this paper and see it as evidence of your single heart.” And with that
he burnt the paper and consecrated it to the realm of Truth.
He then ordered his
disciples to go to their prayer site. However, soon after they stepped out of the dharma
room, Sotaesan called them back, saying that he had one more thing to tell them.
He
said, “The numinous spirits of heaven and earth have already responded to your mind,
and a planning in the realm of dharma has been completed; hence success of our plan
has been assured by this.
You have consecrated yourselves to the world.
the disciples understood Sotaesan, their excitement could not be calmed.
Although
After 11:00
at night, Sotaesan ordered the nine members to go together to the top of the central
mountain and return after offering prayers.
Upon saying this, Sotaesan assigned
dharma names and dharma titles to his nine disciples, saying “The individual with the
secular name has died. Now I give you a new name.
With this universal dharma
name your new life will begin in which you will deliver many sentient beings.” The
nine disciples continued their prayer even after the event until Sotaesan ordered them to
stop in October of that year. The prayers of the nine members and the holy event of
dharma authentication were the spiritual foundation of selfless service for the public
well-being, which strengthened the followers’ faith, solidarity, and public spirit for the
founding of the new religious order.
Chapter 5.
Drafting the Teaching
1. The Proclamation of Buddha-Dharma
28
In November 1919, Sotaesan changed the name of the order from the Savings
Union to The Association for the Establishment of the Society for the Study of Buddha
Dharma and had all the documents recorded for the Study of Buddha-dharma.
Sotaesan explained the reason for adopting Buddha-dharma as the heart of the doctrine
of the new religious order. He said, “What we are going to learn is the teachings of the
Buddha and what we should teach our descendants is also what the Buddha taught.
Hence you should exert a great effort to inquire into the heart of Buddha-dharma so that
you may be enlightened to its truth. It has been a long time since I was enlightened to
Buddha Dharma, and since then I have been putting emphasis on inspiring religious
faith into the minds of people only by means of an unorganized teaching system,
according to their intelligence. I did this because I observed that your understanding of
the Truth is still far from complete. On the other hand, because Buddhism has been illtreated in this country for several hundred years, and people lack reverence for it, I fear
that ignorant people might be very indifferent to my Buddhist teachings. If you are to
be enlightened to the genuine Truth, and seek after the goal of the true discipline,
leading all sentient beings into the path of wisdom and blessings, Buddha Dharma
should be the main principle in your teachings. Moreover, true Buddhism will become
one of the major religions practiced in the world. In the future, however, Buddhism
should not be the same system as that of the old Buddhism, but should be practiced by
scholars and officials, farmers, artisans and merchants. It should be a Buddhism not
only for monks, but also for all laity. As for the way of worshipping the Buddha, we
should not regard a Buddha image as a real Buddha, but we should know that all things
in the universe are Buddhas and everything we are doing is the practice of Buddha
Dharma. When we do ordinary things faithfully, we are practicing Buddha Dharma
faithfully. The one who studies Buddha Dharma successfully can accomplish worldly
29
affairs as well. As to the way of making an offering to Buddha, there is no particular
Dharma Hall or Buddha image for making an offering to the Buddha. Every place is to
be our Dharma Hall and everything is to be our Buddha image for making an offering to
the Buddha. Then, we will be living in Dharma Halls and surrounded by Buddhas, and,
at the same time, the benefactions of Buddha will spread over the whole universe,
making this world an unimaginably blessed Buddhist paradise. My disciples, you are
fortunate enough to have an opportunity that rarely comes to one, that is, to become one
of the initiators of this new religious Order. Do not think that my words are groundless,
even though they are not proved at present. They will be proved in the near future."
2. Dharma Meeting at Bongnae Mountain and the Draft of Il-won-sang
Sotaesan searched for a place to retreat and rest; a place where he could prepare
for the beginning of a new religious order. Thus in March of the fourth year of Won
Buddhism (1919), accompanied by O Chang-gon, he visited Wolmyongam at Bongae
mountain, where he stayed for ten days before returning to Kilyong-ni. In July, he sent
Song Kyu Wolmyongam to find a place to stay. In October, Sotaesan entrusted the
matters of the association to several members and left for Wonmyongam with the plan
to do spiritual cultivation for a few years. Song Kyu, who had been waiting for him,
was delighted at his arrival, and Paek Hank-myong, abbot of Wolmyongam, received
him warmly. The motives behind Sotaesan’s entering the mountain was to take a rest
after several years of hard work, draft the doctrine for the upcoming religious order, and
avoid attention from the public during turbulent times.
In 1919, Sotaesan searched for a place where he could rest.
visited Kumsan temple in Kimje county and stayed there for a while.
30
One day he
He drew a circle
on the door lintel of the room where he stayed. It was the first time he had expressed
his thought on Il-won-sang as the central tenet of the doctrine.
While Sotaesan was staying at Wolmyongam, Song Chol-pyok and others came
and expressed their wish to wait on him. In December of the fourth year of Won
Buddhism (1919), Sotaesan moved to a thatched hut next to Silsangsa, in the center of
Bongnae mountain, where he devoted himself to mental and physical repose while
living in poverty with a few disciples (Song Kyu, Song To-song, and O Chang-gon).
With the turn of the New Year, 1920, the number of his followers coming from several
districts (Youngkwang, Kimje, Chonju) increased, and Sotaesan was moved by their
devotion. He welcomed them and preached sermons to them in the morning and
evening.
Most of his sermons focused on the method of spiritual cultivation by
observing the mind as well as the method of seeing into one’s own nature and realizing
Buddahood.
3. Proclaiming the Religious Principles and Drafting the First Books of the Order
In Bongnae Mountain in April of the fifth year of Won Buddhism (1920),
Sotaesan decreed the religious principles of the new Order: the Fourfold Grace and the
Four Essentials, [which are the essential ways of human life], and the Three Principles
and the Eight Ariticles, [which are the essential ways of practice].
By the Fourfold Grace, he meant the indebtedness, gratitude, and ingratitude to
the Graces of Heaven and Earth, Parents, Fellow Beings, and Laws. By the Four
Essentials, he meant gender equality in rights, discrimination between the wise and
ignorant, educating the children of others, and venerating the public-spirited.
These
are the due ways of life, which will become the essential dharma to better the world.
The Threefold Study, which consists of Cultivation of the Spirit, Inquiry into Human
31
Affairs and Universal Principles, and Choice in Action, is the due way for a practitioner
to tread and will become the essential dharma that works for the salvation of all sentient
beings through training in observing the precepts, preserving mental quietude through
meditation, and attaining wisdom, of which the Buddha had spoken.
The Eight
Articles are belief, zeal, questioning, dedication, unbelief, greed, laziness, and ignorance.
Belief, zeal, questioning, and dedication are the Four Articles to Develop; and disbelief,
greed, laziness, and ignorance are the Four Articles to Abandon.
All eight become the
essential dharma to be applied to the Three Principles. The principles of the basic
doctrines of the new order can be characterized as simple, clear, and integral, which will
not only help all believers never to be deluded or partial, but will also guide them
directly into the gateway to the Great Path.
At this time, Sotaesan also engaged in social dialogue with Buddhist monks
outside the Order and listened to all the rules and regulations of conventional Buddhist
temples.
All of this was going on while Sotaesan, together with his students, was
internally occupied with the drafting of the first books of the new order.
As a result
The Doctrine of Buddhist Reform in Korea and The Essential Doctrine of Spiritual
Cultivation and Inquiry were published one after the other. The Doctrine of Buddhist
Reform was the scripture intended for the edification of the masses by altering
conventional Buddhism to meet the needs of the changing times.
The Essential
Doctrine of Spiritual Cultivation and Inquiry was the scripture for a practitioner to enter
the true boundary of spiritual cultivation and inquiry into human life and universal
principles. The Essential Doctrine of Spiritual Cultivation and Inquiry was published
in May of the twelveth year of Won Buddhism (1927) and the Doctrine of Buddhist
Reform in April of the twentieth year of Won Buddhism (1935).
as part of the first books of the new order for quite a long time.
32
Each book was used
In July of the sixth year of Won Buddhism (1921), at the suggestion of Kim
Namcheon, Song Jeokbyeok, and a few others, the construction of the new “Silsangchodang” [a thatched cottage with a few rooms where Sotaesan along with a few of his
students resided] was erected behind the existing cottage and was completed in
September of the same year.
“BongraeJeongsa”.
It was named “Seokduam”, which is also known as
Here using the newly drafted principles and books, Sotaesan
tested his students through preliminary training based on their respective ability to
practice the Buddha’s teachings.
Their performances were very satisfactory and their
understanding of the righteous dharma progressed further.
4. Establishing the Founding Members
In Bongrae Mountain, seeing that the number of believers was increasing,
Sotaesan organized a male edification group in the Yeonggwang region in June of the
sixth year of Won Buddhism (1921).
In addition a male and a female group were
organized in the combined regions of Yeonggwang, Kimje, and Jeonju in August to test
the system of group edification.
However due to the uneven number of membership
in the groups compounded with the disunity in the management, Sotaesan decided to
postpone the group formation for a later time and conducted edification himself, as was
done previously.
To roughly list the order of Sotaesan’s edification, immediately after
his great enlightenment, he only regarded desire for seeking after truth to be the subject
of his edification, regardless of whichever dharma he cited.
From the second to the
fourth year of Won Buddhism (1917 to 1919), belief, unity, and public spirit were the
subjects of his edification; after the proclamation of the new religious principles of the
Order in the fifth year of Won Buddhism, the religious principles became the subject of
edification from then on.
33
Several years after he had entered the mountain, he became aware that the
karmic connection worthy of receiving the Buddha’s edification had ripened for opening
a new system of religious order in the future and waited for the proper time to go down
the mountain.
In September of the seventh year of Won Buddhism (1922), he sent
Song Gyu to Jin-an to meet with Choe Dohwa at Mireuk Temple located in Mandeok
Mountain. In December, he personally traveled, accompanied by O Changgeon and
Song Doseong, to meet with Choe Dohwa, Jeon Samsam, Jeon Eumkwang, and No
Deoksong-ok and returned to Bongrae Mountain in March the following year (Won
Buddhist year 8 [1923]).
In May, he met with Seo Dongpung and Seo Jungan who
were brothers from Kimje.
In addition, he met with the principal members of the early period one after
another, such as Ku Namsu, Yi Mangab, Jang Jeongsu, and Jang Jeokjo from
Wonpyeong, Mun Jeongkyu and Park Hojang from Jeonju, and Park Wonseok from Iri.
At the same time, he met with Song Mankyeong at Naejang Temple in Jeongeup in
February of the ninth year of Won Buddhism (1924), followed by a meeting with Park
Sasihwa and his brother, Seong Seongwon, Yi Dongjinhwa, and Kim Sammaehwa in
Seoul with Choe Dohwa as his guide.
Later, he met with Yi Kongju.
5. Preparing for the Opening of the Order
In June of the eighth year of Won Buddhism (1923), Seo Jungan came to
Sotaesan’s abode in Bongrae Mountain with his wife, Jeong Seweol, and sincerely
requested that Sotaesan depart from the mountain, saying: “The road in this area is too
rugged and the place is too small. It is of my humble opinion that there is an urgent
necessity for my master to relocate to an area that is conveniently located and spacious;
a place easily accessible to build a temple in order to guide the masses in the future.”
34
Consenting to his suggestion, Sotaesan was engaged in a discussion with him
about the plan for opening a new religious order in the days to come when unexpectedly
he received a message from Yeonggwang that his mother was ill.
Due to the
circumstances, Sotaesan immediately left for home and reconvened his meeting with
Seo Jungan in the winter.
In July, his mother passed away.
Followers from various
corners of the country gathered in Yeonggwang for the funeral.
The training room at
the foot of Mt. Oknyeo was not only too crowded and inconvenient to accommodate the
mass number of people, but it was also located in too low a ground and was too damp,
which were not suitable conditions for a temple to be permanently placed. At this time,
Sotaesan proposed the relocation of the temple.
Finally, it was decided that the new
site would be located at the foot of Beomhyeon-dong where one ten-room and two
eight-room houses were built in October of that year. This was the first construction of
Yeong-San-Won.
In November, Sotaesan traveled to Jeonju via Iri (Park Wonseok’s house) and
with the help of Park Hojang and Yi Cheongchun, decided on a ten-room house
temporary office.
He entrusted Seo Jung-an with the task of drawing up and printing
the covenant of purport as well as overall preparations for the opening of the new
religious order before returning to Bongrae Mountain.
He spoke to Reverend Baek
Hakmyeong, the chief monk, about the purpose of his activity and the progress he had
made so far, with which the Reverend strongly concurred. The Reverend proposed to
provide a part of Naejang Temple, his new post, for Sotaesan’s use while realizing his
purpose.
Sotaesan replied: “Since a temple is shared by many people, a decision such
as this should not be made based on a few people’s will.
However if it can be arranged,
it would be an auspicious sign for the future of Buddhism.”
He first sent Song Gyu and four others (Appendix 4) to Naejang Temple.
35
When Sotaesan arrived at Naejang Temple traveling through Iri and Kimje in February
of the ninth year of Won Buddhism (1924), the proposal that the chief monk addressed
to him earlier fell through due to objections by the majority of the monks at the temple.
The Reverend Baek Hakmyeong was very apologetic, but Sotaesan comforted him and
assured him that it was not his fault. Sotaesan set off to Seoul with a few of his students
and arrived at the house (in Dangju-dong) arranged by Seo Jung-an to establish a
temporary office.
He stayed at the house for a month and established ties with various
people (listed in Section 4 of this chapter).
Part 2. Founding of the Order
Chapter 1. Opening the New Order
1. Buddhadharma Research Society’s Founding General Meeting
In March of the ninth year of Won Buddhism (1924) Sotaesan traveled from
Seoul to Jeongju (at the home of Jeon Eumkwang) via Iri. Many believers from
various parts of the country gathered together.
Seo Jung-an and six of his other
students (Appendix 5) discussed the preparations for the founding of the Buddhadharma
Research Society as its initiators when Sotaesan spoke about the site for the General
Headquarters.
He said, “Since Iri and its vicinity are spacious and easily accessible
from all directions, it seems to be a convenient location for those without property to
live and the believers from various parts of the country to come and go.
What say you
if we decide to build the General Headquarters there?” All those present agreed with
Sotaesan’s suggestion. Bokwang Temple was prearranged to be the venue for the
36
Founding General Meeting.
The specific construction site for the General
Headquarters was left to be determined at a later date after an on-site survey of the area
was made.
On April 29th, Won Buddhist year 9, the general meeting for the founding of the
Buddhadharma Research Society was held at Bokwang Temple, at which time the
existing cooperative association dissolved and the formation of the new religious order,
temporarily named the Buddhadharma Research Society, was declared both within and
outside the organization.
The general meeting was attended by delegates such as Kim
Kicheon and 13 others (Appendix 6) that represented the regions of Yeonggwang,
Kimje, Iksan, and Jeonju. The meeting was called to order with an opening address by
Song Mankyeong.
The interim chairperson, Seo Jung-an, explained the purport of
founding the new order. This was then followed by the adoption of the covenant draft.
In accordance with the covenant, the Assembly selected Sotaesan as the governor, Seo
Jung-an as the chairperson, and Kim Gwangseon as the secretary.
Contributions were
accepted from the congregants for the construction of the General Headquarters
building, which task was entrusted to the chairperson.
Before closing the meeting,
Jeong Hanjo of Si-Dae Ilbo, delivered a congratulatory address.
The covenant adopted at the meeting consisted of 22 articles divided into 6
chapters with regard to general provisions, members of the board, meetings, rights and
duties of the members, entry and withdrawal, and accounts, etc.
Seven departments
were created to take charge of general affairs, religious affairs, research, cooperative
association, farming, cooking, and laundry.
The governor, the chairperson, several
department heads, regular members of the council, and administrative secretaries were
appointed.
Four types of meeting were instituted, which included regular general
meetings, special general meetings, meetings of the regular members of the council, and
37
monthly meetings.
Upkeep was prescribed to be funded through entry fees, annual
donations, monetary contributions, profit gained through the sales of crops, and interest
on deposits.
2. Deciding upon the Site for the General Headquarters and Its Construction
After the Founding General Meeting, Sotaesan, accompanied by delegates of
various regions, personally made a tour around Iri and its vicinity to select the site for
the construction of the General Headquarters before finally settling on Sinryong-ri,
Bukil-myeon, Iksan-gun in Jeolabuk-do.
Seo Jung-an, the chairperson, donated money
to purchase the lot (over 1.35 acres) and to partially cover the construction cost (over
600 Korean Won) and the congregants from various areas contributed substantial
amounts of money (nearly 800 Korean Won).
A special meeting of the leading members was held in September, through
which a resolution for the construction of the main building of the General Headquarters
was passed.
The construction was launched immediately following the meeting.
In
spite of the bitter cold winter, over ten dedicated Jeonmu-Chulshin [ordained disciples]
and special sponsors helped to establish the Headquarters. In November, two units of
wood-structured thatched roof homes with a total of 17 rooms were completed, which
marked the first construction of the General Headquarters for the new order.
Moreover
it was the special occasion to introduce the sign, “Buddhadharma Research Society” to
the world.
In the year of the Founding General Meeting (Won Buddhist year 9 [1924]), the
number of believers from various areas, including Yeongsan, Sinheung, Kimje, Jeonju,
Buan, Seoul, and Jinan, totaled 130; 60 of which were male and 70 female.
Thirteen
of them, including Kim Gwangseon, were Jeonmu-Chulshins [ordained disciples]
38
(Appendix 7) from Yeonggwang and Iksan. With regard to the organization of the
departments, due to the insufficient number of staff and poor conditions, only three
departments out of seven were formally in operation.
The departments were as
follows: the Department of General Affairs (with O Changki as department head and
Song Doseong as secretary), the Department of Religious Affairs (with Song
Mankyeong as department head), and the Department of Cooperative Association (with
Jeon Eumkwang as secretary).
The order’s assets included the rice field gained from
the embankment in Jeonggwanpyeong and a few buildings in Yeongsan, Sinheung,
Buan, and Iksan.
The rice field was yet to be completely detoxified and thus generated
very little profit.
Therefore, although the system of a new order had been set in place,
the means of operation of the General Headquarters and the livelihood of the JeonmuChulshin seemed to be a long way off.
3. Communal Life of the Jeonmu-Chulshin[ordained disciples]
At this time, Kim Gwangseon and other Jeonmu-ChulShin [ordained disciples]
temporarily resided in Iri at the home of Park Wonseok.
Unfortunately they had no
viable means of livelihood due to the lack of financial support when they leased a part
of the land owned by a real estate developing company near Songhak-ri to raise crops,
from which they gained a small harvest and procured a fund for their study.
This was
the first instance of industrial activity of the new order.
Later, through the sincere cooperation on the part of both ordained and lay
believers, the first construction of the General Headquarters was barely completed while
the means of its maintenance and the livelihood of the Jeonmu-Chulshin remained
indefinite. This was because the launch of the taffy-making business happened in
December (Won Buddhist year [1924]) as Song Jeokbyeok and others had proposed.
39
A number of people took charge of the taffy-making endeavor while the rest of
the congregants peddled the goods from town-to-town.
provided a minimal livelihood for a year.
The profit from the sales
However, due to the slim profit and the
concern that frequent contact with the outside world could interfere with the
practitioners’ study, the taffy-making endeavor ended in July of the following year (Won
Buddhist year 10 [1925]).
As a means of support after the closure, farming was
conducted on the rice paddy owned by a land developing company in Manseok-ri, from
which the training fees for Zen retreats were earned.
The operational expenses for the
upkeep of the General Headquarters were appropriated from the fees paid by the
congregants and income generated by the members of the board working as hired farm
laborers.
At the time hardly any Jeonmu-Chulshin had experienced manual labor or
peddling from town-to-town when living at his or her home.
One can only imagine the
financial and physical hardship they must have endured while working long hours in the
field and paddies in the intense heat and wandering various streets selling goods,
usually having nothing more than lees that were left after taffy liquid had been strained
for meals. After a long day’s work they would rest their tired bodies in damp rooms
without decent bedding.
However, they never regarded their circumstances as
hardship, but instead took enormous delight in being a part of the new religious order;
never showing an iota of hesitating when carrying out each task in which they were
engaged. After supper, they gathered in one place to report on their daily progress and
conduct discussions on their thoughts and matters to be handled while Sotaesan
provided guidance in the practitioners’ study through brief dharma-preaching.
harmonious communal living was considered the so-called heaven on earth.
40
Such
4. Issuing the Dharma of Training and Its Implementation
In May of the ninth year of Won Buddhism (1924), Sotaesan traveled to
Mandeok Mountain in Jinan and meditated (arranged by Kim Gwangseon) for a month,
during which time he met Kim Daegeo. In March, the following year (Won Buddhist
year 10 [1925]), he enacted and announced the dharma of regular training and the
dharma of daily training in order to guide and train his students in the new teaching.
Practitioners received training in their study for regular periods in both the
winter and summer. The summer meditation session commenced on the 6th of May by
the lunar calendar and ended on the 6th of August, while the winter meditation session
commenced on the 6th of November and ended on the 6th of February, the following year.
The following 11 subjects of regular training were established for study and practice:
reciting the Buddha’s name, sitting meditation, scripture, lecturing, conversation, cases
for questioning, the nature and the principle, keeping a practice journal, heedfulness,
deportment, and daily dharma-preaching.
As a way to have practitioners receive training every day, daily training was
established with Six items of Heedfulness in Daily Applications and Six items of Duty for
Practitioners to carry out regarding Temple Visits.
In order to have practitioners
exercise all of the prescribed items and keep track of whether they were mindful or
unmindful, the method of examination regarding mindfulness and unmindfulness as
well as the method of keeping a daily dairy were established.
For those who were
illiterate or not comfortable with documents, the “bean-count” method of examination
was used to monitor their mindfulness or unmindfulness.
With regard to keeping a
daily diary, not only was a practitioner obliged to examine and keep record of whether
or not he conducted his study, but was also obligated to review and record what he had
given and received in terms of mental, physical, and material aspects. In addition, the
41
practitioner was obliged to assess whether or not he had submitted proposals concerning
study, work, and way of life, and whether he kept or transgressed the thirty precepts.
A
system was established whereby practitioners were evaluated every month by the Chief.
On an annual basis, a report was submitted to the Department of Religious Affairs for a
yearly review.
All methods were clear, simple, and logically connected with one
another, thus forming the principles of training. Therefore regardless of whether one
was literate and illiterate, young or old, one could enter the path of righteous dharma in
accordance with their respective ability to practice the Buddha’s teachings.
On May 6th, Won Buddhist year 10 (1925), Sotaesan conducted the first regular
training based on the newly established method of training. However, due to the
limited size of the house built as the General Headquarters at the time, he rented space
from Jeon Eumkwang’s home for temporary use.
This space was used to conduct
summer meditation sessions for approximately ten male and female members under
Minister Song Gyu’s supervision. In November, the winter meditation was held for
approximately twenty male and female members under Minister Yi Chunpung’s
supervision.
The two meditative sessions came to be regarded as the beginning of the
regular training for the new order.
Such regular training not only served as an important period for lay members to
train themselves in study, but also as the only means to train the clerics in the early days
of the Order. A community hall was later constructed and used as the place of training.
Despite many hardships, the meditation training of the congregants is still in existence.
5. Publishing the First Books and Establishing Temples
Although the Covenant of Purport was temporarily in print (through the help of
Seo Jung-an) at the time of the Founding General Meeting, it was deficient in terms of
42
substance.
transcribed.
All teaching material at the semi-annual regular training sessions was
In March Won Buddhist year 12 (1927), the three books:
the Covenant
of the Buddhadharma Research Society, the Essential Doctrine of Spiritual Cultivation
and Inquiry, and the Covenants of Cooperative Association, were published with the
help of Yi Kongju. These first three books of the new order were finally provided to
the practitioners.
In the Covenants of the Buddhadharma Research Society, [which was known as
the Covenant of Purport], the origin, explanation of the purport, and the articles of the
Order were recorded in the first part. The second part was known as the “order of
study for a practitioner”, which consisted of the Three Principles, the Eight Items, the
thirty precepts, the essential discourse on commanding the nature, the dharma
instruction of suffering and happiness, and the method of training for lay and ordained
practitioners. All 14 items stated detailed rules in order to have the practitioners
familiarize themselves with the outline of the doctrinal system of the new order. The
Essential Doctrine of Spiritual Cultivation and Inquiry consisted of seven parts: the
first and second parts were the Essential Doctrine of Spiritual Quietude, followed by the
principle of inquiry, the articles to develop in inquiry, the articles to abandon in inquiry,
cases for questioning in each article of inquiry, and the order of progression in study.
The Essential Doctine of Spiritual Cultivation and Inquiry served as the guidebook in
the study of spiritual cultivation and the study of inquiry.
The Covenants of
Cooperative Association, which elucidated the general provisions of the Association, the
methods of saving and payment, and so forth, helped the believers improve their way of
life.
With regard to the establishment of temples, the completion of the General
Headquarters took place at Iksan in the nineth year of Won Buddhism (1924), and the
43
former Yeong-San-Won was renamed Yeonggwang District.
Kim Kicheon was
appointed district head and Song Byeokjo was assigned to be the first minister of the
temple. The Seokdu Temple in Bongrae Mountain was renamed the Buan Cultivation
Center.
In July Won Buddhist year 11 (1926), the Kyeongsung Branch Office was
inaugurated when Yi Dongjinhwa donated two wooden-structured thatched houses in
Changsin-dong in Seoul, for which Yi Kongju bore the upkeep expenses. Kim
Sammaehwa took charge of management of general affairs, and Song Doseong was
appointed to be the first Won Buddhist minister of the temple.
In March Won Buddhist
year 12 (1927), the Sinheung Branch Office was established in Sinheung, Sincheon-ri,
Myoryang-myeon, Yeonggwang-gun.
The former body of the Sinheung Branch Office
was the Myoryang Credit Union which was organized by Yi Dong-an along with Yi
Wancheol and ten others. (Appendix 9)
This branch office was established for the
purpose of funding their study in March Won Buddhist year 5 (1920), following Yi
Dongan’s becoming a devout follower of Sotaesan in the early days of the Order. The
Union followed the example of the existing Gilryong-ri Association by promoting
frugality, thriftiness, and saving, and was later renamed the Sinheung Branch Office.
All of its members came to believe in the Buddhaharma Research Society thus all of its
properties were incorporated into the assets of the Order. In terms of edification, it
received guidance from the Yeonggwang District for some time.
Chapter 2. Procurement of the New System
1. Cooperative Association and the Founding Groups for Industry and Education
In Won Buddhist year 9 (1924), after the Founding General Meeting, Sotaesan
established the Cooperative Association to take over the affairs of the existing
44
association and procured the system of saving for various funds.
These various funds
included the districts’ fund which is the unified savings of the assets of the General
Headquarters and various districts; the dues fund which was intended for the payment of
dues needed for the upkeep of membership; the study fund which was intended for the
procurement of training fees for meditative retreats; the contributory fund which was
intended to be used for commemorative memorial services for the Order’s forefathers;
the work fund which was intended for various work to be carried out by the
membership; the scholarship fund which was intended to be used to educate the
members’ children; the living expenses fund which was intended for the livelihood of
the membership, and so forth.
While these various funds were invested in real estate and farming as well as the
sericultural, pomicultural and horticultural industries and livestock, they were also
loaned out to poor members at a low interest rate. At first the Association’s main
office was located at the General Headquarters, however since the majority of its
business was concentrated in the Yeonggwang area, it relocated to Yeonggwang in Won
Buddhist year 12 (1927) and the General Headquarters served as the Associations’
branch office in managing its affairs.
The Association played the role of a safe for the
Order and laid the firm foundations of its financial development in the early days.
Meanwhile, the Agricultural Department, which was originally planned to be
one of the seven departments under the General Headquarters, was barely making ends
meet.
It continued to be meager and stagnant. Its cooperative farm work was being
done by only 4 or 5 members even after the Founding General Meeting. In Won
Buddhist year 12 (1927), the founding group for industry was organized at Song
Mankyeong’s proposal and O Changgeon and 7 other initiators (Appendix 10) made an
appeal to the General Headquarters and the districts that a campaign be launched for
45
procurement of the fund to establish an industry department for the realization of the
wholeness of both spirit and flesh.
The same year, the founding group for the
education department was formed at Song Doseong’s proposal.
Yi Dong-an and 6
other initiators (Appendix 11) made an appeal to the General Headquarters and the
districts that a campaign be launched for procurement of the fund to establish an
education department to train highly skilled people who would work for the benefit of
all sentient beings and heal the world.
The initiators as well as all the members of various departments came together
in perfect harmony in their endeavor and in the following year (Won Buddhist year 13
[1928]), the campaigns developed into the Consociation for the Establishment of
Agricultural Department and the Consociation for the Establishment of Center for
Training Talented Persons. In their strenuous efforts to establish both institutions, the
members in Seoul joined forces. Those living in Yeonggwang worked in communal
farming, those in Iksan in communal sericulture, and the executive members of each
department worked in physical labor and special activities.
2. Method of Examination in Study and Work, and Treatment of Persons of
Merit
In August of the tenth year of Won Buddhism (1925), Sotaesan issued a method
for practitioners to assess their level of study and practice. The subjects for examination
included cultivating the spirit, inquiry into human affairs and universal principles, and
choice in action; under each subject there were five levels: Kab, Eul, Byeong, Jeong,
and Mu.
After a practitioner tested his ability in each of the three subjects, he was
placed in one of the five levels according to his ability. Sotaesan, then, announced the
method of grading dharma rank, which was a system whereby six stages were
46
established according to a practitioner’s level of study: the grades of ordinary faith,
special faith, the battle between dharma and mara, the statuses of dharma strong and
mara defeated, beyond the household, and the greatly enlightened tathagata. Under
each level, he established a preparatory level as a preliminary stage before a practitioner
advanced to the next level.
He determined the period of examination for advancement
in dharma rank to be three years. When there was to be a dharma rank advancement,
he had the entire Order celebrate its honor and glory by conferring an advancement
certificate on the practitioner and performing an advancement ceremony.
That year (Won Buddhist year 10, 1925), Sotaesan also issued the method of
examination for work.
The subjects for examination were the 11 articles of Essential
Founding Discourses (The Analects of Sotaesan, section on the Order, No. 34).
At
every 12th year commemoration or at the passing of a person of merits, an article-byarticle review was to be conducted, based on which the individual’s grades in all of his
performances, with regard to the founding of the Order, would be determined.
The
grade with regard to work was to be determined with the first grade of the first
commemoration of the founding (over 4,000 Korean Won) as the standard. Thus, the
first grade of the second commemoration would be twice the standard amount and that
of the third commemoration, twice the amount of the first grade of the second
commemoration.
Any grade below the first was to be determined by deducting half
the amount of each grade. The total performance grade was determined by adding the
amount converted from the study grade and the amount of work grade, provided that the
work performance was comprehensively graded in terms of mental and physical labor,
material contributions, and special award money.
As the executive members of the
Order, Jeonmu-Chulshi were instructed to handle practical business affairs regardless of
their ranks. Their performances were to be calculated in terms of the amount in work,
47
which were incorporated into their final grades.
In January Won Buddhist year 12 (1927), Sotaesan also issued “The Method of
Treatment of Persons of Merit”.
They were categorized as follows: 1) those who have
dedicated themselves to the Order, as Jeong-Nam [ordained celibate male disciples] or
Jeong-Nyeo [ordained celibate female disciples]; 2) those who have dedicated
themselves to the Order as Jeonmu-Chulshin[ordained disciples]; 3) Lay believers who
have served the Order; 4) the parents whose children have attained the status of dharma
strong and Mara defeated in dharma rank.
He established proper ways to serve these
persons of merit when they grow old and feeble, to conduct funeral services when they
pass away, and to commemorate them after their death, according to their respective
grades in performance.
He established the rules and regulations for them to be forever
memorialized through the construction of a memorial shrine and instructed their
implementation.
3. Ceremonial Reform and the Four Commemorative Occasions
Deploring the overly complicated and troublesome ceremonial conventions of
the time that placed many restrictions on people’s lives, caused needless waste of money,
and therefore hindered social development, Sotaesan established the new system of rites
and rituals in February Won Buddhist year 11 (1926). 1) With regard to the rites and
rituals of birth, he decreed the items of heedfulness for an expectant mother and the
household members before and after the conception, how to name a newborn and how
to record the birth, and how monetary gifts are to be used for the child’s education. 2)
With regard to the rite of passage, he decreed how a coming-of–age ceremony was to be
performed and the method of treatment of a person who has reached adulthood. 3)
With regard to the rites and rituals of matrimony, he decreed the installation of a
48
matchmaking agency, the engagement procedure, the new order of marriage ceremony,
and the use of the money saved for public service work.
4) With regard to funeral rites,
he decreed that a simple ribbon should be worn as a sign of mourning for 49 days the
longest; that a funeral procession should be conducted according to the new order of a
processional ceremony; that the money saved should be used for public service work;
that the traditional custom of geomancy (in which the geography is believed to
determine the prosperity of one’s offspring) should be abandoned and instead the
method of ancestral memorial tower in a memorial park should be employed. 5) As
for the rites and rituals for an anniversary of someone’s death, he decreed that all of the
deceased’s biological children and sworn-children should become the bereaved hosts;
that the anniversary should be celebrated according to the new order of the ceremony;
and that the money saved should be used for public service work. He instructed that
those who could comprehend these new ceremonial conventions implement them first.
In the same year (Won Buddhist year 11, 1926), Sotaesan issued the new order’s
four commemorative occasions: 1) the joint birthday commemoration, which was
intended to collectively celebrate the birth of the new order and the birth of all believers
as a whole on a specific day; 2) the holiday commemoration, which was intended to
jointly celebrate various conventional holidays on a specific day at the temple; 3) the
joint ancestral commemoration, which was intended to collectively perform the
anniversary ceremony for all the predecessors who had preceded the parents on a
specific day; 4) the change-of-the-year commemoration, which was intended to jointly
celebrate the new year at the temple.
The purpose of implementing such decrees was
to use the money saved towards public service work and also to alleviate each
individual’s economic burden.
He instructed that those who could comprehend these
new ceremonial conventions implement them first.
49
After the new ceremonial protocols were issued, the rites and rituals of birth
were first performed when the grandson of No Deoksongok (Kim Yeongbong) of Jinan
and the third son of Sotaesan (Park Kwangjin) were born. The new rites and rituals of
matrimony were first performed, when the first son of Kim Kwangseon (Kim
Hongcheol) of Yeonggwang and the first daughter of Kim Taesangok (Yi Bo-eunghwa)
as well as the second son of Song Byeokjo (Song Doseong) and the first daughter of
Sotaesan (Park Gilseon) were joined in matrimony.
The rites and rituals of a funeral
were first performed, when Seo Dongpung had passed away, and the rites and rituals of
a death anniversary, when the anniversary ceremony for the father of Jeon Eumkwang
was conducted.
As for the protocols for the four commemorative occasions, the
congregation at each temple took the initiative in implementing the prescribed
provisions. Together they became sacred pioneers in the great task of constructing the
new world when the sentiments of the people were still deeply bound by troublesome
rules and inefficient ways of doing things.
4. First Commemorative General Meeting of the First Generation
March 26th, Won Buddhist year 13 (1928), marked the day of the first
commemorative general meeting of the first generation. In preparation for the general
meeting, Song Gyu and 4 others (Appendix 12), from the beginning of the year, had
reviewed and compiled the work report on the 12 years since the founding of the Order.
Furthermore, they reviewed the record of performance in study and work for each
member. On the day of the assembly, the meeting began with Song Mankyeong’s
opening address and proceeded with reports on the work accomplished over the years.
The Order’s 12-year history was presented, which included calling Jo Songkwang to the
chair, appointing the executives to various levels of offices, and the status reports on the
50
founding groups of industry and education departments.
On the morning of the 27th, persons of merit from various levels of work and
Jeonmu-Chulshins of 10 years or more standing had their pictures taken in
commemoration.
In the afternoon, the first work report card conferment ceremony
was held under the supervision of Sotaesan, who had made an earnest request: “The
precursors and the juniors, do recognize, revere, and uphold one another’s acts of merit,
and thereby let the fortunes of the Order boundlessly thrive and flourish while making
your meritorious acts infinitely transmigrate.”
Five people, including Yi Cheongchun, Yi Dongjinhwa, Seo Jung-an, Jeon
Samsam, and Kim Gwangseon, were recognized as the first-ranking persons of merit;
Kim Kicheon and Yi Kongju, as the second-ranking persons of merit; Yi Jaecheol, Song
Byeokjo, Yu Jeongcheon, and Song Gyu, as the third-ranking persons of merit; Pak
Sihwa and 10 others (Appendix 13), as the fourth-ranking persons of merit; Pak Secheol
and 12 others (Appendix 14), as the fifth-ranking persons of merit. Persons who
belonged to the top five ranks totaled 35 and those included in the sixth to the twelfth
totaled 278.
On the 28th, the first dharma rank advancement ceremony of the new Order was
performed under the supervision of Sotaesan, through which 68 people advanced to the
preliminary grade of special faith and higher. Pak Secheol and Seo Dongpung were
advanced postmortem to the status of dharma strong and Mara defeated; Song Byeokjo
and 5 others (Appendix 15), to the grade of special faith; Yi Chunpung and 59 others
(Appendix 16), to the preliminary grade of special faith.
The total number of believers at the time of the first commemorative general
meeting, including Yeonggwang, Iksan, Seoul, Kimje, Buan, and Jinan, reached 438
(176 of which were male and 262 were female).
51
Over 20 Jeonmu-Chulshin were
actively engaged in activities as executives or members of the industry department in
places such as Youngkwang, Iksan, and Seoul.
The assets of the Order included the
land, buildings, and the office articles and fixtures at the General Headquarters in Iksan,
the district office in Youngkwang, the branch office in Sinheung, the cultivation center
in Buan, and the branch office in Keongseong (over 33,190 Korean Won) as well as the
money invested in the Cooperative Association (over 500 Korean Won) and the savings
(over 2,000 Korean Won).
Chapter 3.
Forming the System of the Order
1. Publication of the Edification Periodicals
In between the first commemorative general meeting (March, Won Buddhist
year 13) and the second commemorative general meeting, the most significant task of
the new Order was publishing the edification periodicals.
In May Won Buddhist year 13 (1928), the “Month-End Communication” [WolMal-Tong-Sin] was first published with Song Doseong as the editor-in-chief, and was
mimeographed through the 34th issue (the December issue in Won Buddhist year 15).
It was then unavoidably interrupted for a while due to other pressing affairs, such as the
publication of the Books of Won-Buddhism. It was reissued in April Won Buddhist
year 17 (1932), under the new name the “Monthly Newsletter” [Wol-Bo] with Jeon
Eumkwang as the editor-in-chief and was mimeographed through the 48th issue (the
June issue in Won Buddhist year 18).
violated publication codes.
Then the Japanese officials argued that it
All of its 48 issues were confiscated and the periodical
ceased publication.
In September Won Buddhist year 18 (1933), after an official permit was issued
52
by the colonial Japanese government, the monthly periodical, Hwe-Bo (Won-Buddhist
Newsletter) with Jeon Eumkwang as the editor-in-chief, was issued and mimeographed.
Beginning with the December issue (the 13th issue) in Won Buddhist year 19 (1934),
typography was employed with Yi Kongju (the head of the Communications
Department) as the editor, after which circulation increased.
However, in Won
Buddhist year 25 (1940), due to the acute situation of World War II, the periodical
became a quarterly publication until January of the twenty-sixth year of Won Buddhism
(1941) when it finally suspended publication, with the 65th issue being the last.
The “Month-End Communication” was distributed to a number of temples in
the country mainly reporting the gist of the sermons and messages from the General
Headquarters to the congregations as well as news and developments of the Order. The
“Monthly Newsletter” and the mimeographed “Won-Buddhist Newsletter” served as the
means to exchange views in addition to providing its existing services.
The
typographic “Won-Buddhist Newsletter” eventually functioned as the means of
edification and cultural activities and became the only cultural activity under the
Japanese colonial rule.
By publishing sermons and writings on awakenings and
impressions, views, handlings of their bodies and minds, questions and answers, it long
remained the spiritual legacy of the Order in its early stage.
2. Publication of the First Books of the Order
Another important task launched by the Order since the first commemorative
general meeting (March Won Buddhist year 13) was editing and compiling the first
books and amending and implementing the Rules and Regulations of the Won-Buddhist
Order.
Although the Covenant of Purport and the Essential Doctrine of Spiritual
Cultivation and Inquiry were already in print, there came a point when neither was able
53
to elucidate sufficiently the original principles of the doctrine.
Therefore the existing
system of organization could not support the increasing number of believers.
In Won Buddhist year 15 (1930), Sotaesan instructed a few of his students
(Appendix 17) to arrange and edit the principles of the doctrinal system that he had
enacted and issued separately in the past.
He, then, personally supervised the
compilation and publication of one book after another. In July Won Buddhist year 16
(1931), The Buddhadharma Research Society’s Covenant of Governance and Group
Formation was published, followed by the Six Great Essential Principles in April Won
Buddhist year 17 (1932).
The revised version of the Rules and Regulations of the
Order were published in May Won Buddhist year 19 (1934), and the Three Essential
Principles in December.
In April Won Buddhist year 20 (1935), the Doctrine of
Buddhist Reform in Korea, which had been drafted by Sotaesan in Bongrae Mountain,
was published. This was followed in August, by the Book of Ceremonial, the Imperative
Items for which the Congregants are to be Aware.
The Summarized Report on the
Buddhaharma Research Society was publishe in Won Buddhist year 21 (1936), and the
Buddhist Service to be Conducted by Buddhadharma Research Society in Won Buddhist
year 24 (1939).
In Won Buddhist year 25 (1940), the newly written songs of the Order,
songs of the Buddha-praising, and other hymns were introduced. The second 12 years
since the founding of the Order truly marked the golden period in the compilation and
publication of the early Books.
The Buddhadharma Research Society’s Covenant of Governance and Group
Formation stated in the general summary the aspiration for the formation of groups. It
elucidated general provisions, the organization of groups based on gender, the
organization of the Head Circle Council and the electoral system, the organization of
each group, meetings, manners of reward and punishment, and finally clarified detailed
54
regulations, such as the method of examination regarding daily diary-keeping and so
forth.
The Six Great Essential Principles outlined the founding slogan of the teaching,
the doctrinal chart, and the general summary in the opening pages, and was compiled in
the following order: Chapter 1, the Fourfold Grace, the Four Essentials, and the
Essential Ways of Human Life; Chapter 2, the Three Principles, the Eight Articles, and
the Essential Ways of Practice; Chapter 3, Training; Chapter 4, the Method of
Attainment Examination; Chapter 5, the Method of Grading Dharma Rank; and Chapter
6, the Method of Examination for Work.
The revised version of the Rules and
Regulations of the Order will be dealt in the next section.
As the Three Essential
Principles were the compilation of the main points of Chapters 1, 2, and 3 of the Six
Great Essential Principles, explanations with regard to mental affirmation and
supplication were included in the last part of Chapter 1.
The Doctrine of Buddhist Reform in Korea stated an outline of the reform in its
introduction, followed by 7 chapters respectively entitled: Korean Society’s View on
Buddhadharma in the Past, The Realities of Life of Buddhist Monks in Korea, Wisdom
and Ability of Sakyamuni Buddha, From Buddhism of Foreign Origin to Buddhism of
Korea, From Buddhism of the Few to Buddhism of the Masses, Unifying the
Fragmented Subjects of Edification, and From Worshiping the Buddha-Image to
Worship of the Il-Won-Sang [Image of One Circle].
It carried the dharma of faith in
the Il-Won-Sang and the method of practice of the Il-Won-Sang for the first time.
The
Book of Ceremonies stated an outline of the newly-established system of rites and
rituals and was arranged in the following order: Part 1, The Rites and Rituals of Birth;
Part 2, The Rites of Passage; Part 3, The Rites and Rituals of Matrimony; Part 4, The
Rites and Rituals of a Funeral; Part 5, The Rites and Rituals of a Death Anniversary;
55
Part 6, The Rites and Rituals of Funerals for the Persons of Merit; Part 7, The Protocols
for the Four Commemorative Occasions; Part 8, The Rites and Rituals of Dharma Rank
Advancement; and Part 9, The Rites and Rituals of Dharma Preaching.
As for the
Imperative Items for which the Congregants are to be Aware, the Summarized Report on
Buddhaharma Research Society, and the Buddhist Service to be conducted by
Buddhadharma Research Society, small handbooks were created with excerpts from the
various Books.
3. Improvement of Group Organization and Enforcement of the New Rules and
Regualtions
Although the Buddhadharma Research Society’s Covenant of Governance and
Group Formation, also known as the Regulations Governing the Groups, was published
in July Won Buddhist year 16 (1931), it was earlier that year that Sotaesan personally
supervised and finalized the drafting of its principles and detailed provisions.
In
February, he began reorganizing groups into various levels, so that the groups that
formerly formed into co-ed teams of men and women in certain cases, were then teamed
in separate groups according to their gender. He determined the three representatives
of the male members of the Head Circle Council, who would not be able to handle
practical affairs, while selecting female probationary members of the Head Circle
Council and organizing the three classes of preliminary Head Circle Council
categorized into Kab, Eul, and Byeong, respectively.
He also teamed the founding
groups for industry and education according to the members’ gender.
Meanwhile, on March 26th of that same year (Won Buddhist year 16, 1931),
Sotaesan announced the names of those who had advanced in their dharma ranks during
the second 12-year period.
The seven who had advanced to the preliminary grade of
56
the battle between dharma and Mara were Song Doseong, Kim Kicheon, Jeon
Eumkwang, Song Gyu, Yi Dongjinhwa, Yi Kongju, and Song Byeokjo.
From the
General Headquarters and all the provincial districts, the total number of those who had
advanced to the regular grade of special faith were 54 (Appendix 18), including Mun
Jeongkyu and those to the preliminary grade of special faith were 48 (Appendix 19),
including Yang Hawun.
The major regulations already legislated and carried into effect prior to the
enactment of the new Rules and Regulations of the Won-Buddhist Order, included the
dharma of status examination in February Won Buddhist year 12 (1927), the dharma of
sworn-parent and sworn-child in April Won Buddhist year 14 (1929), the system of
executive classification and remuneration in March Won Buddhsit year 16 (1931), and
Sotaesan’s decree with regard to Jeong-Nam [ordained celibate male disciples] and
Jeong-Nyeo [ordained celibate female disciples], and the dharma of simplified diarykeeping in Won Buddhist year 18 (1933).
The dharma of status examination, in particular, as the means of selfexamination in terms of each item under the items to practice and the items to abandon,
was intended for a practitioner to pass judgment upon one’s current status with regard to
the nature of good and evil and the elements of transgressions.
By having a
practitioner administer self-examination once a year on the beneficence received and
beneficence given as well as loans given and loans received, that practitioiner became
aware of his own level of merits and liabilities. Through this evaluation, the practitioner
was encouraged to improve his practice and study. This leads to the accumulation of
merits, which assists the Order in selecting talented people. The enforcement of the
dharma of sworn-parent and sworn-child, which was intended to urge the believers,
bound by debts of gratitude and obligation, to encourage one another in the study and
57
work through sworn-father-and-son or sworn-mother-and-daughter ties, caused the
number of sworn-family cases between the elders of the Order, including Sotaesan, and
the generation of youth to be substantial during this period (Won Buddhist years 14 to
15).
As stated in the previous section (Part 2, Chapter 3), the Rules and Regulations
of the Won-Buddhist Order, adopted at the Founding General Meeting (September 4,
Won Buddhist year 9), were in dire need of revision due to the changes of the times and
the expanding number of believers.
Beginning in Won Buddhist year 18 (1933),
Sotaesan instructed Song Gyu to proceed with the revision of the Rules and Regulations
of the Won-Buddhist Order.
Finally, in March Won Buddhist year 19 (1934), with the
approval of the general convention, the existing system of rules and regulations
governing the 7 departments under the offices of president and chairperson was revised
in full breadth to that consisting of 29 articles of general provisions in 9 chapters and 75
articles of detailed provisions in 12 chapters, which governed the 10 departments under
both Houses.
It was an important task, with which the new Order established a new
system.
With the new system, the highest office in the Order, [which was the office of
governor], was changed to the office of the Head Dharma Master, under which the
office of chair and both Houses with 10 departments were established for division of
duties.
Under Kyo-Jeong-Won [the Board of Administration], the four departments of
religious affairs, research, communications, and inspection were established to take
charge of all matters pertaining to study. Under the leadership of Seo-Jeong-Won [the
Board of Practical Affairs], the six departments of general affairs, cooperative
association, industry, public service, education, and procurement were organized to take
charge of all matters pertaining to the public work affairs.
58
With the general convention
as the representative organ, the members were classified as either regular and special
members or the system of believers without duties. District and branch offices were
constructed in the provinces and the centralized body of legislation was established to
promote, supervise, and encourage the implementation of the rules and regulations.
At this time, Sotaesan remained in the office of the Head Dharma Master and Jo
Songkwang, in the office of Chair. Song Gyu was appointed to the office of Chief
Administrator [Head of the Board of Administration] and Yi Jaecheol, to the office of
Chief of General Affairs.
In Won Buddhist year 22 (1937), Yi Yongkwang was
appointed as the third Chairperson and Song Doseong was appointed as the second
Chief Administrator.
4.
Enshrining the Il-Won-Sang [One-Circle Image] and Training the Kyo-Mu
[Won Buddhist Ministers]
In April Won Buddhist year 20 (1935), the great enlightenment hall in the
General Headquarters in Iksan was completed and in front of its altar, the Il-Won-Sang,
(the symbol of the Truth Buddha), was formally enshrined.
This marked another
significant event through which the new Order established a system of faith and
formalized a complete system of a religion.
Although Sotaesan introduced the
importance of the Great Path of Il-Won, used words such as Wonki and Il-Won, drew the
image of Il-Won, and consistently elaborated the system of belief that the fourfold grace
was Il-Won, it was not until this enshrinement that he finally established the Il-WonSang as the object of faith.
Sotaesan instructed the Il-Won-Sang to be enshrined at the altar of the Choryang
Temple in September (Won Buddhist year 21 [1936]), the Great Enlightenment Hall in
Yeongsan and Sinheung Temple in December, and Yongsin Temple and Wonpyeong
59
Temple in March (Won Buddhist year 22 [1937]).
Additonally, he also instructed the
Il-Won-Sang to be enshrined at all other existing temples, while further elucidating the
fundamental meaning of Il-Won through his dharma preaching and dharma instructions.
At the winter regular training in November Won Buddhist year 23 (1938), he formally
established and promulgated the dharma of Il-Won-Sang enshrinement and issued the IlWon-Sang Vow of Mind Buddha.
By then, the Il-Won-Sang had become the object of
faith and the model of practice and was considered the most fundamental tenet of the
new Order. It was strongly encouraged that enshrinement take place, not only in
temples, but also at the homes of the believers.
The number of Il-Won-Sang
enshrinements, in various parts of the country by Won Buddhist year 25 (1940), reached
180 in households in 13 districts.
Meanwhile, on November 21st, Won Buddhist year 23 (1938), a short-term
training course for the ordained clergy (with Yu Heo-il as the director) was held for the
first time, in which all ordained clergy from various districts gathered to the General
Headquarters for 40 days of doctrinal training personally administered by Sotaesan
through his dharma preaching.
new Order.
It was the first training for the ordained clergy of the
The increase in the number of temples since the founding of the Order
entailed an increase in the number of ordained clergy, but the clergy at the time were
dispatched to take charge of field edification without going through a certain period of
training.
This left the implementation of unified edification with much to be desired.
It was then that the clergy understood the tenets anew and trained themselves with all
the laws of the Order, through which a new framework for the systematized edification
of the masses took shape.
In order to actively promote the implementation of each believer’s duty to
propagate the new Order (which instructed each believer to undertake the task of
60
guiding at least 9 non-believers to join the Order), the Propagation Department was
established under the Department of Religious Affairs in Won Buddhist year 21 (1936).
This department encouraged the lay congregants to engage themselves in missionary
activities. By the end of Won Buddhist year 23 (1938), the number of believers who
had faithfully carried out the duty of propagation reached 96 throughout the country,
including Pak Sasihwa who led 364 non-believers to join the Order.
5.
Developing the Industry Department and Establishing the Industrial Organs
The founding group for the industry department, inaugurated in Won Buddhist
year 12 (1927), was consistently striving to raise funds when it decided to adopt Pak
Daewan’s proposal to start a peach orchard in front of the General Headquarters’
building in October Won Buddhist year 13 (1928). This endeavor was crowned with
great success. Subsequently, over 4,000 persimmon trees were planted in Mandeok
Mountain in Jinan, followed by 2,400 chestnut trees in Hwangdeung-myeon in Iksan
and 700 in Albong behind the General Headquarters’ building. Over 1,000 peach trees
were planted near the General Headquarters and in front of Yeongsan Temple, and a
mixed orchard with over 2,000 fruit trees was cultivated in Yi-heung near Sinheung
Temple.
In Won Buddhist year 21 (1936), a separate building for the industry
department was constructed.
Various seedlings, medicinal herbs, and vegetables were
grown. Chickens, pigs, and rabbits were also raised, which produced great results. In
September Won Buddhist year 22 (1937), the industry department widely expanded its
egg-producing capacity, for which 18 hen houses were newly constructed. The eggs
were exported in large quantities to as far as Manchuria, which raised the industrial
activities of the new Order.
Meanwhile, in August Won Buddhist year 19 (1934), an herbal medicine shop,
61
named Bohwa-dang, opened in Iri in the form of a limited partnership. This developed
into the most profitable industry for the new Order. The shop’s purpose was to raise
funds to build a charity hospital (Je-Jung-Won), and to conduct edification training as
Sotaesan had intended. It received the investment of the public-service fund (10,000
Korean Won) collected from the lay believers affiliated with the General Headquarters
and the provincial districts. They saved money by implementing the newly established
ceremonial protocols. Yi Jaecheol, the chief executive director (also the Chief of
General Affairs), and the first officers (Yi Dong-An, the executive director and Pak
Yiseok, the doctor) laid the foundations of its development.
In February Won Buddhist year 25 (1940), 32 acres of forest land in Sugye-ri,
Samrye were purchased to open Samrye Orchard. The orchard’s capital was funded with
the operational savings of the branch offices in various provincial districts (over 7,000
Korean Won).
Yi Dong-An was appointed as the first supervisor (also the head of the
Industry Department) and the first officers of practical affairs (Kim Seokgyu as the chief
officer and Jeong Ilji as the engineer) were dispatched to start a mixed orchard that
mainly produced yellow peaches. Samrye Orchard, later renamed Samchang Orchard,
Sugye Farm, and the Eunsan Foundation Sugye Farm, developed into the basic
industrial training grounds of the new order.
6. Religious Influence in the Second 12-Year Period and Public Sentiment
Although in April Won Buddhist year 25 (1940), the second commemorative
general meeting of the first generation since the founding of the Order was due, no
commemorative event could be held due to the state of affairs at that time.
Consequently, only a regular general meeting was convened, at which time a lecture
meeting on the doctrine for the believers from the provincial districts was held for the
62
first time with great success.
According to the year-end work report for that year, the number of lay believers
reached 5,954, including 871 special members and 5,083 regular members. The number
of Jeonmu-Chulshin reached over 80.
The temples in Yeongsan, Iksan, Seoul, and
Sinheung were built prior to the first 12-year period (March Won Buddhist year 13), the
temple in Maryeong in Won Buddhist year 14 (1929), and those in Jyapo and
Wonpyeong in Won Buddhist year 15. In Won Buddhist year 16, Hadan Temple was
built, followed by Nambumin Temple in Won Buddhist year 19 and the temples in
Jeonju and Osaka, Japan in Won Buddhist year 20 (1935).
In the following year, the
temples in Kwanchon and Choryang were constructed, followed by those in Daema,
Sinha, Yongsin, and Kaeseong in Won Buddhist year 22. In Won Buddhist year 23, the
temples in Namwon and Iri were built, followed by those in Wunbong and Hwahae in
Won Buddhist year 24. This brought the total to 21 temples. The following year (Won
Buddhist year 25, [1940]), the temples in Daedeok and Hogok were built.
The fact that a temple was established in Osaka, Japan and Pak Daewan was
sent there as its first Won Buddhist minister marked the first instance of overseas
propagation.
In Won Buddhist year 22 (1937), Sin Yeongki donated an office space for
the General Headquarters and in Won Buddhist year 25 (1940), several volunteers
procured a library in the General Headquarters, which improved the appearance of the
building.
Meanwhile, with the new order’s founding, public sentiment toward the Order
was consistently favorable and encouraging. Dong-A Ilbo put out an investigative
report on November 25th, of the thirteenth year of Won Buddhism (1928). The headline
of the newspaper read “Special facilities of Buddhadharma Research Society in Iksan—
Its 400 congregants carry themselves under the principles of spiritual cultivation,
63
inquiry into human affairs and universal principles, and choice in action, which is an
ideal way of living free from the world’s woe and tumult”.
A Korean-Japanese
Newspaper based in Osaka introduced the new Order in its issue dated May 28th, Won
Buddhist year 19 (1934) under the headline “A new village in the Korean Peninsula
where 500 kindred spirits lead a communal life based on truth of Buddhism, strenuously
practicing thrift and diligence.”
The colonial Japanese government, in its data book’s
42nd issue in July Won Buddhist year 20, assessed that “this assemblage for the most
part, by doing away with superstitious conventions and basing its belief in the laws of
nature, while encouraging the masses to be thrifty and diligent, has been conducting
meaningful activities as an assembly in pursuit of religious furtherance.”
Furthermore,
it stated in its “Table of Influence by Religions” that “it (Won Buddhism) has exercised
a positive and enlightening influence, and cultivated the spirit of labor by setting an
example to the public by engaging in actual field work.
In Won Buddhist year 21 (1936), when Ahn Dosan, a national leader, called the
General Headquarters, he spared no words of praise and encouragement (Verse 45,
Chapter on Practice, Dae-Jong-Kyeong). On the contrary, in Won Buddhist year 22
(1937), Jokwang carried a slanderous report in its June issue, only to print a praising
report in the following month’s issue.
(1941),
Maeil-Sinbo,
Chosun-Ilbo,
That same month in Won Buddhist year 26
and
Joonang-Ilbo
and
Kyeongseong-Ilbo,
extensively reported and praised, for several days, the new Order’s collective effort to
achieve spiritual enlightenment, religious reform, literacy expansion, and religious
living, thereby conscientiously encouraging its development in its early days and widely
leading the public to be aware of its true aspects.
Chapter 4. The Light of Dharma Emanated from Sotaesan
64
1. Acute State of Affairs and Deferment of the Plans
When the new Order entered its third 12-year term of the first generation as of
April Won Buddhist year 25 (1940), the Sino-Japanese War was at its peak and the
surveillance and interference by the Japanese police intensifed daily.
Sotaesan,
conjecturing that his stay in this world would not be for long, attempted to pursue
several projects that he had been planning to undertake for some time, only to be
frustrated by obstructive tactics employed by the Japanese police, which led him to
exercise extreme caution in his actions as the days passed.
When the War broke out, the Japanese authorities demanded that the so-called
“National Allegiance Ceremony” be included in the dharma meeting procedure and that
all proceeds from the performing of various types of ceremonies be donated to the
national-defense fund.
The Police dispatched their officers to the General
Headquarters to exercise surveillance over Sotaesan and the Order.
They placed
Headquarters officials in custody many times under a variety of pretexts. They
prohibited the use of “Wonki” as the name of the Order’s era; and forced the
discontinuation of the Order’s published newsletter.
In December Won Buddhist year
26 (1941), when the war in the Pacific broke out, the Japanese officials issued a
temporary national security ordinance in March of the following year, in which they
forced the submission of an association-continuance report and implicitly restricted the
establishment of new temples while driving the Order to join the organization called the
Buddhism Alliance led by Japanese monks. This forced the Order to frequently take part
in the events focused on the current state of affairs.
The Order reduced the number of
scheduled winter and summer regular training and dharma meetings and mobilized the
congregation for the dissemination of the Japanese language and physical labor. At
65
times, they took the liberty of using the temples as their so-called place of physical and
mental training.
Even then, Sotaesan dealt with the Japanese with a resolute attitude while
passively cooperating with them in a placatory gesture. In January of the twenty-fifth
year of Won Buddhism (1940), he submitted an application for a permit to establish the
Yu-Il Institute, which he planned as a school for training the members to become
religious workers. This was delayed and finally rejected the following year.
In April
Won Buddhist year 27 (1942), he again applied for a permit to open the Ja-Yuk-Won
(Mercy Nursery School), which he planned as a day-care facility and a nursery school,
but was turned down.
In addition most of the industrial organizations already in
operation were at a standstill or, in the worst case, shut down.
Although the Japanese authorities at the time did not allow the existence of a
Korean-led organization of any nature, great or small, with an exception of pro-Japanese
groups, they could not openly curtail the activities of a religious order that followed the
Buddha’s teaching, for Japan itself was a Buddhist country.
Instead, under the strict
policy of pre-censorship and ex-post facto report, they kept a close watch and placed
restrictions on every single activity of the new Order. Sotaesan thereupon laid aside all
new work plans and had all the assets of the Order registered in some of his leading
disciples’ names (Song Doseong and others) and then he notarized them in May Won
Buddhist year 27 (1942).
From October of that year, he conducted a lecture tour
around temples in various districts for the last time and reinforced the believers’ faith
and solidarity.
2. Enforcing the Final Version of the Rules and Regulations and Transmission
Verse
66
On April 26th, of the twenty-seventh year of Won Buddhism (1942), seven years
after the new rules and regulations (whose essential feature was the system of both
Houses with 10 departments) were carried into effect, the final revision of the rules and
regulations in the Buddhadharma Research Society era were adopted and enforced. This
established 5 departments under the Head Dharma Master and the secretary-general.
This system of rules and regulations whose drafting was undertaken by Pak Jangsik
in Won Buddhist year 26 (1941), under Sotaesan’s request, consisted of 12 chapters and
250 articles.
The rules and regulations stipulated, among other things, a six-year term
for the Head Dharma Master “who, it had been decreed, would be replaced whenever
there was a person who was qualified to execute his duties.” It also outlined the
replacement of the offices of the Chair, the Chief Administrator, and the Chief of
General Affairs by the office of the secretary-general, and the regrouping of the 10
departments into the 5 departments of general affairs, religious affairs, miscellaneous
affairs, public services, and industry.
It also specified the organization of the general
assembly as an important organ of the General Headquarters for the smooth processing
of its affairs.
It further specified the installment of the head offices in provincial
districts for the supervision of the temples within their respective jurisdiction, the
organization of headquarters-branch offices as an important organ of the General
Headquarters and provincial districts, and empowered them to take charge of the
election of the Head Dharma Master and the members of the Head Circle Council. It
stipulated the formation of the Supreme Assembly consisting of 9 male and 9 female
members of the Head Circle Council headed by 1 Chief, whose term of office was 6
years as the Order’s highest position assisting the Head Dharma Master.
Detailed
stipulations governing the Zen center and the lecture center also characterized the newly
revised system.
67
Although the operational structure was simplified with Sotaesan’s taking office as
the first secretary-general and the five newly appointed figures (Appendix 21) as the
heads of the five departments, the new system failed to become fully functional due to
the increasingly acute state of affairs of the time.
Since then, Sotaesan, as if he had predicted that the time of his demise was near
at hand, frequently pressed for the editing and compilation of the Principal Book.
On
January 28th, Won Buddhist year 26 (1941), he handed down to those gathered in the
Zen center the Dharma of No Distinction between Action and Rest and the following
transmission verse:
“Being into nonbeing and nonbeing into being,
Turning and turning – in the ultimate,
Being and nonbeing are both void,
Yet this void is also complete.”
He also spoke to those gathered there, “Although the enlightened masters of the past,
for the most part, privately disclosed the transmission verses only to a few of their
students, which words were then to be communicated to the future generation on their
deathbeds, I am handing down the transmission verse in advance to all people. However,
whether you will be bequeathed the dharma or not wholly depends on your study, and
therefore, each of you must cultivate yourself to have no regret later on.”
From then forward, Sotaesan mainly delivered dharma preaching with regard to
the principles of life and death and of cause and effect at most dharma meetings,
including regular dharma meetings, night dharma meetings, and Zen sessions. He
frequently requested of his students, “Since I am about to depart for a far away place for
personal training, you are to firmly get hold of your minds even in my absence.”
One day, he said to Song Gyu: “It would be difficult for me to remain here for
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long.
I make a request that you try to lead the public with your own strength.”
In January Won Buddhist year 28 (1943), when he issued the newly established
slogans and the doctrinal chart, he said: “Herein lies the quintessence of my teaching
and I wonder how many of you understand my true intentions.
Only when you tread
down the single path with great determination, will you achieve success.
Since for a
teacher to establish the dharma in a new way, for the students to receive the teaching
and to hand it down to posterity and for posterity to welcome and practice the teaching
are to form a trinity, the merits are the same.”
3. Compilation and Publication of the Principal Book of Buddhism
From September, Won Buddhist year 25 (1940), Sotaesan instructed a few of
his students who were proficient in the doctrine (Appendix22) to consolidate and edit all
the books used in the past.
Beginning in Won Buddhist year 27 (1942), he frequently
pressed for their compilation while personally engaging in the editing process often late
into the night.
Finally, the Book was completed.
He instructed the Book to be
printed immediately and said: “Although we could not make perfection more perfect
because we are pressed for time, the gist of most of my life’s aspirations and
administrative philosophies are expressed in this book. You are to humbly receive
them and learn from the words, practice them with your bodies, attain enlightenment
with your minds, and hand them down to the generation to come.
In the future, there
will be a countless number of people in the world who will recognize and be deeply
moved by my teachings, which they will revere and uphold.”
However, the publication of the Principal Book of Buddhism was delayed due
to the Japanese authorities’ refusal for authorization until the permit was granted in the
name of Kim Taeheup, the president of Bul-Gyo-Si-Bo (The Buddhist Bulletin). The
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manuscript was remitted for printing in March Won Buddhist year 28 (1943), to be
finally published in August after Sotaesan’s passing. The Principal Book of Won
Buddhism was the only consolidated book of the Order for 19 years until the Book of
Won Buddhism was published at a later date.
As for the order of compilation of the Principal Book of Won Buddhism, the
opening sections consisted of Il-Won-Sang, the Four Great Principles, the Slogans, the
Doctrinal Chart, the Founding Motive of the Teaching, and the Introduction. Book
One, the first of the three books, carried the fundamentals of the new Order, which
included Part 1, Amelioration; Part 2, the Doctrine; and Part 3, the Practice. Book Two
contained six Buddhist scriptures: Diamond Sutra, Heart Sutra [Prajnaparamita-hrdayasutra, the profound wisdom of the heart], Sutra in Forty-Two Chapters, Retribution and
Reward of Transgressions and Merits, Five Blessings of the Wise, and Discriminative
Karmic Effects.
Book Three carried the four ancestral doctrines: Secrets on
Cultivating the Mind, Ten Drawings and Transmission Verses on Cultivating the Mind,
Hsiu Hsiu An Discourse on Zen, and Essential Cases for Questioning.
To look at the order of the content in Book One in detail, in Part 1, there are 11
chapters in total, which carried the substance of the Doctrine of Buddhist Reform with
minor modifications. Part 2, the Doctrine, contained 9 chapters, including the Four
Great Principles, the Il-Won-Sang, the Transmission Verse, the Fourfold Grace, the Four
Essentials, the Threefold Study, the Eight Articles, the Three Great Powers, the
Essentials Ways of Human Life and of Practice.
Part 3, the Practice, carried 15
chapters: the Essential Dharma of Daily Practice, Explanations for the Subjects of the
Regular training - the essential ways of practice, Explanations for the Subjects of Daily
Training – the essential way of practice, the Dharma of Keeping a Diary, the Dharma of
Reciting the Buddha’s Name, the Dharma of Seated Meditation, the Dharma of
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Timeless Zen, the Precepts, the Essential Discourse on Commanding the Nature, the
First Dharma Words, the Instruction on Repentance, the Dharma Instruction on
Suffering and Happiness, An Ill Household and Its Treatment, the Dharma of the
Wholeness of Both Spirit and Flesh, Stages of Dharma Rank and Their Meaning.
The newly introduced chapters included the mottos in the beginning pages, the
Four Great principles, the Il-Won-Sang, the Transmission Verse, the Dharma of Reciting
the Buddha’s Name, the Dharma of Seated Meditation, the Dharma of Timeless Zen, the
Instruction on Repentance, An Ill Household and Its Treatment, and the Dharma of the
Wholeness of Both Spirit and Flesh in Book One.
The doctrinal chart was revised to
the gateway of practice and the gateway of faith; the Il-Won-Sang, was modified from
the Mind Buddha to the Il-Won-Sang, the Dharmakaya Buddha; the Four Essentials
changed to Developing Self-Power, the Wise One First, Educating Others’ Children, and
Venerating the Public-Spirited; the Three Principles and the Eight Articles changed to
the Threefold Study and the Eight Articles; the Six Classes of Dharma Rank was
referred to as the Three Grades and Three Statuses.
Books Two and Three were now
included in their entirety, which further elucidated the Order’s close relationship with
the Buddha’s teaching as its origin. The Twofold Grace (Chapter 3, the Doctrine),
which only appeared in the first version, was included during the process of obtaining
the permit for publication but was deleted after Korea’s liberation in1945.
4. Passing of Sotaesan and Induction of Head Dharma Master Chongsan
On June 1st, of the twenty-eighth year of Won Buddhism (1943), Sotaesan
passed away.
On May 16th, he gave a dharma sermon at the regular dharma meeting
held in the General Headquarters: “As a child grows up to become an adult, an
unenlightened person awakens to truth to become a buddha, and a student learns to
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become a teacher.
You are to equip yourselves with true ability to become teachers to
your juniors and great leaders in the grand task of benefiting all sentient beings and
healing the world. A buddha or a bodhisattva is no different from an unenlightened
person where life and death of one’s body is concerned, you are to believe not only in
the person, but also the dharma and be especially heedful not to come and go in vain.
Grave is the matter of birth and death and swift is impermanence.
This is something
one should not take lightly.”
That afternoon, his health slowly declined and 15 days later, at half past two in
the afternoon, he suddenly passed away. He was 53 years old and 28 years had passed
since the founding of the Order. Mere words fail to describe how sad and painful it
was for all of his students to endure his death. Society’s lamenting over his demise
never ceased.
The dharma realm of voidness and myriad phenomena in the universe
together mourned his passing away.
At 10 o’clock on the morning of June 6th, a solemn farewell ceremony was held
in the great enlightenment hall at the General Headquarters. Thousands of mourners
gathered from various parts of the country including monks belonging to the 7
denominations of the Buddhist Alliance in Iri. The farewell ceremony was followed
by a cremation ceremony at the Iri Crematorium.
After the final memorial service
ceremony on July 19th, the remains were placed in a cemetery in the outskirts of Iri
(Keumgang-ri). In the midst of everyone’s grief, Kim Taeheup officiated the funeral
rites from beginning to end.
At the final memorial service, Ueno Shun-ei, the
celebrated Japanese Buddhist monk, who was revered by the high officials of the
colonial Japanese government, could not contain himself from sobbing during the
sermon.
On June 7th, after Sotaesan’s funeral rites were conducted, the Head Circle
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Council elected Dharma Master Song Gyu, (who had been a central member of the
Council since the Order’s initial stage), as the succeeding Head Dharma Master
Chongsan.
The inauguration ceremony for the incoming Head Dharma Master was
held in the great enlightenment hall at the General Headquarters on June 8th.
Head Dharma Master Chongsan was born on August 4th according to the lunar
calendar, 16 years before the founding of the Order (1900) in Soseong-dong, Chojeonmyeon, Seongju-gun in Kyeongsangbuk-do as the eldest of three children and the son of
Gusan Song Byeokjo and Juntawon Yi wunwe.
Even at an early age, those around him
could sense his wisdom and intelligence compounded with his great talent and ability.
He was very gentle and of a sacred disposition.
At age 8, following his family
tradition he read the writings of Confucius from cover-to-cover. At the same time he
enjoyed reading about the achievements of the enlightened masters of the past.
He
vowed to himself: “By way of the great practice under the heavens, I, too, shall do the
great work and become a master in this world.”
With this solemn pledge, he traveled across rivers, lakes, hills, and valleys in
search of men with unusual spiritual ability or hermits and engaged himself in spiritual
cultivation through meditation, and at times leading a reclusive life in a one-room
thatched cottage.
Sometimes, he experienced bizarre and mysterious signs, which
astounded his neighbors.
However, his vow deepened with each passing day.
At age
17, he traveled to Jeolla-do to make a round of visits to various Buddhist denominations
and while taking up his temporary abode in Hwahye-ri in Jeongeup, he was personally
received by Sotaesan. In July of the third year of Won Buddhism (1918), he joined
Sotaesan’s group, was appointed to the position of Center of the Head Circle Council at
the young age of 19, and secured the legitimacy of the new order through dharma
Confirmation with 8 other fellow members by leaving their fingerprints on a sheet of
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white paper as a sign of acceptance of the injunction, “Sacrifice with no regret”, which
miraculously turned red.
From that time, he served Sotaesan in Bongrae Mountain for five years,
assisting him in drafting the Creed of the new order.
From Won Buddhist year 9
(1924), he took pains in laboring with other fellow congregants in the construction of
the General Headquarters in Iksan, and for 12 years he mainly took charge of
developing teaching material and training potential leaders.
For 6 years from Won
Buddist year 21 (1936), he devoted himself to the work in the sacred ground of
Yeongsan and to train the younger generation while drafting The Writing on the
Foundation of Won Buddhism.
Upon returning to the General Headquarters in Won
Buddhist year 27 (1942), he assisted in compiling the Principal Book while providing
assistance in overall administrative affairs until he was appointed as the Head Dharma
Master after Sotaesan’s passing away.
Chapter 5.
Completion of the System of the Order
1. Japanese Oppression and Korea’s Liberation
The first obstacle that confronted Head Dharma Master Chongsan, after his
inauguration, was how to deal with the aggressive Japanese oppression and exploitation,
which grew more severe with each passing day, as the specter of defeat from the War
loomed larger.
The Japanese police, who implicitly anticipated the self-destruction of
the Order after Sotaesan’s death, instead witnessed a smooth transition and consistent
progression, which led them to intensify their oppression and exploitation.
All the
bells, installed in the General Headquarters and in the temples around the country, were
forced to be delivered as a contribution to the colonial government, and all sermons
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delivered during dharma meetings were subject to censorship by a police officer
attending those Meetings.
Not only did the burden of monetary contributions toward
the national defense and that of labor mobilization increase, but in addition the
agricultural crops raised by the industry department were also forced to be offered as
contribution to the colonial government.
This caused the provisions for the
congregants in the General Headquarters to become scarce.
Due to commandeering
and compulsory military training, young male officials of the Order had difficulty
leading a communal life, and thus were dispersed to various parts of the country under
the name of industrial corps.
Young female officials, with an exception of clerical
workers, were dispersed as well to take jobs in hospitals and factories in order to avoid
conscription into Jeong-Sin-Dae (squads of comfort women).
From Won Buddhist year 30 (1945), the Japanese police took the edification
groups as a threat and thus banned their formation.
In the end, with the military in the
lead, it imposed its final scheme, the so-called “imperialization of Buddhism”, on the
new Order and forced the revision of the Principal Book and the Rules and Regulations
to suit their form of government and their national policy.
Head Dharma Master
Chongsan, while gradually putting down their trenchant argument with the help from
his strong supporter, Reverend Ueno Shun-ei of Hakafumi Temple, and a few other
people, procrastinated in complying with their demand under the pretext of making a
tour of the temples in provincial districts. He stayed in Busan for the purpose of
buying time, which tied him over the crisis until the country’s liberation on August 15th ,
and a new chapter in the history of the development of the Order with a promising
future unfolded.
2. Relief of War Victims and Founding of the Nation
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Although the long-awaited liberation finally arrived, there was disorder and
confusion during the transitional period which was overwhelming. In the midst of all
the chaos there were waves of war victims returning home from Manchuria and Japan.
Head Dharma Master Chongsan believed that the first step to cooperating with the
reconstruction project was to give relief to the returning war victims.
Thus he
instructed that relief camps be established in the Iri Train Station on September 4th and
in the Seoul Train Station on September 10th, Won Buddhist year (1945) with an
approval from the Council.
For six and half months in Seoul and for 13 months in Iri,
the relief camps offered a helping hand to those victims of war who had been starving,
shabbily dressed, disease-stricken, and wandering.
The camps provided them with
food, clothing, shelter, emergency medical treatment, aid for childbirth, and funeral
services.
The relief project was mainly directed by several executives of the General
Headquarters and some young officials, and operated by volunteers from 20 some
provincial districts who took turns for a week at a time.
Their warm and conscientious
care became a model for all relief groups at the time and the object of societal
admiration and recognition.
For 3 months in Busan and 5 months in Jeonju, many of
the laity and the ordained actively participated in the relief work led by the government
as well.
According to the work report of that year, the total number of brethren who
were helped through the 4 relief camps reached 800,000. The total number of
congregants mobilized in the relief aid exceeded 13,000.
The labor cost provided in
place of member-mobilization and the expenses incurred during the mobilization
amounted to a substantial sum (Approximately 1,200,000 Korean Won). During this
time, in the relief camp based in Seoul, over a few hundred thousand leaflets with
slogans based on the spirit of the Creed, such as “From the life of vanity to the life
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within one’s means; From the life of resentment to the life of gratitude!” were
distributed to the brethren in need of relief.
the returning student soldiers.
Lectures on ideology were held to benefit
Numerous war orphans were taken in at Jeonggak
Temple in Hannam-dong, which evolved into the establishment of Bohwawon (Hwang
Jeongsinhang, the first headmaster), an orphanage that marked the beginning of a
charity branch of the new Order.
Song Doseong, one of the central members of the
Head Circle Council, lost his life from an infectious disease in the course of working as
a relief worker.
Meanwhile, the night school at the General Headquarters was open to the
children in the nearby villages to teach Hangeul, the Korean Alphabet. In January of
the following year, a lecturer from Hangeul Society was invited to a training session for
the Won Buddhist ministers to instruct them in Korean education, after which an
illiteracy eradication campaign was launched throughout the temples around the country.
This resulted in over 4,000 trainees being produced.
With increasing frequency of
communication between the General Headquarters and Seoul, the branch office for the
General Headquarters (with Kim Daegeo as the first manager) was established in
Jeonggak Temple in Seoul to take charge of public relations, broadcast edification, and
provide guidance to the Seoul District. In the meantime, reverted properties like the
Yongkwang Temple in Yongsan, Seoul and Japanese shrines in Seojeong, Busan and
Dongsan-dong, Iri were purchased from the government and developed into the district
offices of Seoul, Kyeongnam, and Iri, respectively.
Around this time (October, 1945), Head Dharma Master Chongsan, through his
writing, “The Doctrine of Founding a Nation”, expressed his views on the current state
of affairs, the gist of which was to cultivate national strength deeply rooted in eternity,
with the spirit as its foundation, politics and education as its stems, national defense,
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construction, and economy as its branches and leaves, and the way of evolution as its
result.
3. Establishing the Yu-Il Institute
On May 1st, Won Buddhist year 31 (1946), the year following the country’s
independence, the Yu-Il Institute (with Pak Jangsik as the director and Pak Gwangjeon
as the deputy director) was established as the Order’s training branch for religious
workers.
From early on, Sotaesan hoped to set up an organ specializing in educating
and training the congregants to become religious workers and, thus established the Zen
center at the General Headquarters and the learning center in Yeongsan.
However,
since these two institutions did not measure up to his expectations, in Won Buddhist
year 25, he tried in every possible way to establish the Yu-Il Institute within the General
Headquarters, but was forced to put his plan on hold due to interference by the Japanese
authorities. Six years later after the country’s liberation, Sotaesan’s dying wishes were
finally carried out.
The Yu-Il Institute began as a school that provided 3 years of secondary
education and 3 years of specialized education, through courses on Won-Buddhism,
which included the Principal Book.
Buddhism were offered concurrently.
In addition, general education courses on
In its first year, 46 students, male and female
enrolled, for secondary education and 34 students enrolled, male and female, for
specialized education.
Among them, 31 students received a scholarship from the
Order.
Head Dharma Master Chongsan delivered a directive speech at the opening
ceremony of the first school year: “Know the true meaning of “the one and only” and
achieve the one and only objective, the one and only action, and the one and only
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outcome.
The one and only objective is precisely the salvation of all sentient beings
and the treatment of the world’s illnesses; the one and only action is precisely selfless
service to the public; the one and only outcome is precisely the construction of the
World of Il-Won.
Although at the moment, there are only a few small classrooms with
a small number of students, in the days to come, numerous enlightened masters will be
produced here which will amply redeem the world.”
With this Yu-Il Institute as the parent body, the secondary section later
developed into the Won-kwang Middle and High Schools for Boys and Girls and the
specialized section, into the Won-kwang University.
4. Promulgation of “Won-Buddhism” and Its Constitution
With the country’s liberation, the General Headquarters tentatively decided to
have the Order renamed “Won-Buddhism”, and drafted anew its constitution while
going through the legal formalities to register it as a nonprofit corporation.
On January
16th, Won Buddhist year 32 (1947), the registration for Won-Buddhism as a nonprofit
corporation (with Yu Heoil as the chairperson of the board of trustees), was authorized
and at the general meeting in April, the new name of the Order was officially reported
as well.
For a year, the constitution was revamped and refined and on April 26th the
following year (Won Buddhist year 33, 1948), the Won-Buddhist Constitution was
officially passed at the general meeting.
On the 27th, the promulgation ceremony for
the Order’s new name was held in the great enlightenment hall at the General
Headquarters, through which the new Order declared to the world its official name
“Won-Buddhism”.
Head Dharma Master Chongsan explained the meaning of the Order’s new
name: “As Won (circle) is the root of all laws of the universe and, at the same time, the
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essence of all laws of the universe, all teachings of this Order are based on nothing other
than Won.
As “Buddha” means precisely “to awaken” and refers to the mind, no
matter how complete the truth of Won may be and how myriad laws of the universe it
may embrace, it would be nothing more than empty reason, if without the mind that
awakens to truth.
Therefore, the words, “won” and “Buddha”, are inseparable, being
of one truth.”
Meanwhile, the promulgation of the Won-Buddhist Constitution, which
consisted of 255 articles in 24 chapters drawn up in 2 parts, was an historical event, and
through this the new Order--with its official name and the establishment of a new
system--was reborn as a new religion, both in name and in reality. In Part 1, the
Administration, which consisted of 138 articles in 15 chapters, formerly established the
name of the Order to be Won-Buddhism; the principal object of worship to be the IlWon-Sang; the principal scripture to be the Principal Book of Won-Buddhism; and the
leader of the Order to be the Head Dharma Master.
It constituted the General
Assembly as the highest voting body and the General Headquarters as the highest
executive organ.
The Board of Administration and the Board of Inspection were
placed under the General Headquarters.
The Board of Administration consisted of four
departments: religious affairs, general affairs, industry, and finance.
The Board of
Inspection consisted of two departments: the auditing department and library. It also
constituted the Head Circle Council as the highest advisory organ to the Head Dharma
Master.
In Part 2, The System, consisted of 9 chapters: Jeonmu-Chulshin (Ordained
Disciples), GeoJin-ChulJin, HuiSa-Wi, Grades in Study, Grades in Work, Dharma
Statuses, Fountainhead, Sworn-Families, and Supplementary Provisions.
It also
included the following provisions: “Determination of dharma statuses shall commence
with Sotaesan. Dharma statuses shall be calculated based on the number of years and
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each status is reckoned as 36 years”; “The shrine of eternal commemoration shall be
constructed”; “The special memorial service before the shrine of eternal
commemoration shall be performed twice a year.”
The first General Assembly established through the new Constitution that the
Head Dharma Master and the members of the Head Circle Council would remain in
office until the year of the first commemorative general meeting. (April, Won Buddhist
year 38)
Yu Heo-il was appointed the first Chief Administrator and O Changgeon was
appointed as the first Director of the Judicial Bureau.
The Chief Administrator
automatically took the chair of the General Assembly.
5. The Functioning of the Head Circle Council
The first version of the Rules and Regulations of the Buddhadharma Research
Society stipulated that the Head Circle Council was to be an advisory organ to the Head
Dharma Master and prescribed one item for resolution.
However, the new version of
the Won-Buddhist Constitution stipulated that the Head Circle Council would be the
highest advisory organ to the Head Dharma Master, and prescribed five items for
resolution, thus constitutionally expanding the functions of the Head Circle Council.
This marked the beginning of the Head Circle Council as the pivot of the ten-member
group edification.
The first formation of the male Head Circle Council, of the early period, and
the dharma Confirmation were described earlier.
With the passing of Pak Secheol in
Won Buddhist year 11 (1926), Yi Dongan joined the Council while Song Doseong, Jeon
Eumkwang, and Jo Kabjong were informally designated to stand proxy for Yi Sunsu,
Pak Dongguk, and Yu Keon, but later they were appointed as the official members in
February Won Buddhist year 16 (1931).
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In March of that year, the Female
Probationary Head Circle Council was established, but did not function until later. In
Won Buddhist year 20 (1935), with the passing of Kim Kicheon, Yu Heo-il joined the
Council and in Won Buddhist year 24, when Kim Gwangseon passed away, Pak
Daewan was appointed the new position.
In Won Buddhist year 26, after Yi Dongan’s
passing, Seo Daewon joined the Council. In April Won Buddhist year 28, through the
reorganization of the Head Circle Council, Yi Wancheol became a member.
At that
time, the members of the Female Head Circle Council were informally designated by
Sotaesan. With Sotaesan as Chief, Iltawon Pak Sihwa (with Kim Yeingsin as her
proxy) took the position of Keon; Yitawon Jang Jeokjo (with Jo Jeonkwon as her proxy),
the position of Kam; Samtawon Choe Dohwa (with Jo Ilsil as her proxy), the position of
Kan; Satawon Yi Wonhwa (with Seo Daein as her proxy), the position of Jin; Otawon Yi
Cheongchun (O Jongtae as her proxy), the position of Son; Yuktawon Yi Dongjinhwa,
the position of Yi; Chiltawon Jeong Sewol, the position of Kon; Paltawon Hwang
Jeongsinhang, the position of Tae; Gutawon Yi Kongju, the position of Center.
In June of that year (Won Buddhist year 28, [1943]), through the reorganization
of the Head Circle Council, after Sotaesan’s passing, Song Hyehwan joined the Council.
In Won Buddhist year 29, with the demise of Yi Jaecheol, Kim Daekeo also became a
member.
On January 25th, with the inauguration of the Female Head Circle Council as
a functioning organ, the five proxy members gained official membership.
Thereby, the
main members of the Male Head Circle Council and the Female Head Circle Council
were equipped with a practical, functioning structure based on the rules and regulations
of the Order.
Later, in April Won Buddhist year 31, the eighth supplementary
organizing of the Male Head Circle Council took place. This was followed by a
substantial reorganization in the male and female membership in April Won Buddhist
year 38. This was was accomplished in the first general election in the second term
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since the founding of the Order.
In April Won Buddhist year 39 (1954), Head Dharma Master Chongsan
instructed the Head Circle Council and the Association of Ordained Clergy to
“strengthen further the authority and functions of the Head Circle Council making it the
pivotal entity of governance”.
This was sufficiently reflected by a constitutional
amendment in Won Buddhist year 44 (1959).
In May Won Buddhist year 54 (1969),
the Office of the Head Circle Council (with Kim Yunjung as the first secretary-general),
whose role had previously been played by the Department of General Affairs, was
independently established, through which the system of subdivision and that of expert
advisors were set in place.
This enabled the Head Circle Council to evolve into the
Order’s highest voting and governing organ, both in theory and in reality.
From the
start of the second term to the half-a-century commemoration ceremony, there were 4
general elections and 3 occasions of supplementary reorganizations in both the male and
female membership, respectively.
6. The First Publication of the Periodical, Won-Gwang, and the Korean War
In April Won Buddhist year 34 (1949), 9 years after the suspended publication
of the monthly periodical, Hwe-Bo [Won-Buddhist Newsletter], Won-Gwang-Sa was
established.
Moreover in July, the monthly periodical, Won-Gwang, was first
published, which marked the rebirth of the Order’s edifying organ.
Head Dharma
Master Chongsan handwrote in the first page of the inaugural issue, “The light of IlWon radiates in the ten directions” and recorded “Truthful things, whatever they may be,
always remain in existence, after all is said and done, however hard one may try to erase
them. While untruthful things disappear, after all is said and done, however hard one
may try to keep them in existence.”
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After the publication of Won-Gwang’s fifth issue, it was temporarily
discontinued due to the outbreak of the Korean War, but was re-published in April Won
Buddhist year 37 (1952), through a joint endeavor of Bohwa-Dang (Song Hyehwan, the
director) and the Advanced Zen Center (Yi Wunkwon, the deputy director) in Iri. In
March Won Buddhist year 40, it was re-located again to the General Headquarters and
in February Won Buddhist year 42, with the support of a fellow congregant (Kim
Baekryeon of Busan), it was equipped with a printing apparatus, which enabled the
Company’s self-sustenance and partial participation in the Order’s publishing operation.
When the Korean War broke out in Won Buddhist year (1950), the Honam
region was under threat, which forced the General Headquarters to temporarily suspend
all of its operations and disperse all of its personnel to various provincial districts. On
July 19th, the Communist army invaded the Iri-Iksan area and set up an office for its
Honam troops in the Won Buddhist Headquarters.
Due to the unavoidable
circumstances, all the buildings and facilities in the General Headquarters were turned
over to the Communist army.
Several executives of the Order (Appendix 23), who still
remained in the General Headquarters, accompanied the Head Dharma Master to the
outer block of the Compound, where they carried out the task of maintaining the
Order’s existence, even under heavy bombardment.
Only after the Allied Forces
reclaimed the Iri-Iksan area on September 29th, was vitality in the Order’s activities
restored. The scattered documents and disarrayed housing were put in working order,
and preparations for setting the Order’s operations in good condition were made.
On October 4th, upon Head Dharma Master Chongsan’s command, official
letters were sent out to various temples, that outlined the following directives: 1)
thorough and exhaustive guidance was to be provided to the congregants to lead them to
act harmoniously based on the truth of Il-Won, and to steer them clear of acting on
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impulse or revenge; 2) the families devastated by the war were to be paid a consolation
visit, without fail, and a Cheon-Do-Jae (Memorial Service for the Departed Spirit’s
Journey into Nirvana) for the victims was to be performed in each temple; 3) regular
dharma meetings and nightly dharma meetings were to be strictly carried out again in
temples not under threat.
The evidence of war was culpable, especially the complete destruction by fire
of the Bo-Hwa-Won in Seoul, and the long-term ordeals suffered by the temples in the
Yeonggwang region.
Temples such as Yeong-San-Wan had to be completely evacuated,
and other temples in Kaeseong and Chuncheon were temporarily evacuated.
The
number of congregants who fell victim to the War was three from the ordained
(Jeonmu-Chulshin) and five from the laity.
Part 3. Fruition of the Sacred Work
Chapter 1. Continuing the Sacred Work of Sotaesan
1. Construction of the Sacred Tower Dedicated to Sotaesan and Preparations for
the Continuance of the Sacred Work
On April 25th, Won Buddhist year 34, in the pine forest in Yeongmo-Won [WonBuddhism Memorial Park] inside the General Headquarters compound, the sacred tower
memorializing Sotaesan was erected and its dedication ceremony was performed.
After which the continuance of Sotaesan’s sacred work began.
The sacred tower
dedicated to Sotaesan was funded by contributions made by believers in various parts of
the country. The tower was constructed out of granite from Hwangdeung Mountain. A
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spherical stone was placed on the stone seat in the shape of a lotus, which is supported
by the foundation platform with a lotus carving.
Sotaesan’s remains were placed
inside the tower and five layers of stones were erected, which were capped with a lid
stone.
The tower was completed in October of that year and Sotaesan’s remains were
placed inside the monument 6 years after his passing.
Thus, Yeongmo-Won [Won-
Buddhism Memorial Park], the place where the sacred tower dedicated to Sotaesan is
enshrined as its core, has developed into the sacred ground where believers renew their
dedication to revering, memorializing, and following the example of Sotaesan.
At the meeting of the General Assembly that was conducted the following day,
the Association for the Continuance of Sotaesan’s Sacred Work was organized.
Although the Preparatory Committee for the First-Term Commemoration Projects (with
Yi Kongju as the chairwoman) was organized at the meeting of the General Assembly
the following year (Won Buddhist year 35, [1950]), preparations were stalled due to the
War. Thus, at the General Assembly special meeting held in October, it was decided that
there would be a one-year postponement of the commemorative general meeting.
It
was further decided that the Association for the Continuance of Sotaesan’s Sacred Work
and the Preparatory Committee for the First-Term Commemoration Projects would be
combined into the Third Association for the Continuance of the Sacred Work.
It was
also decided that under Yi Kongju’s supervision, the compilation of the Order’s history
and the erection of the sacred tower dedicated to Sotaesan would be carried out and the
final summing up of the work performances of all the believers during the first term
would proceed.
At this time, the Judicial Bureau (with Yi Wunkwon as the Director) also began
its dharma rank assessment for all believers, which was the third assessment following
the second which was conducted by Sotaesan 20 years earlier in March Won Buddhist
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year 16 (1931).
Meanwhile, in thirty-third year of Won Buddhism (1948), Seukdu Temple in
Bongrae Mountain was undergoing renovation to completely change into a holy ground.
This project was originated and supervised by O Changgeun, but then was later
destroyed by a fire during the War.
In the year in which the sacred tower was
completed (Won Buddhist year 34 [1949]), a partial revising and reprinting of the
Principal Book of Won-Buddhism was conducted.
In doing so, matters outside the
scope of Sotaesan’s original intention were eliminated.
2. Conference for the Continuance of the Sacred Work of the First Term
On April 26th, of the thirty-eighth year of Won Buddhism (1953), the
Conference for the Continuance of the Sacred Work of the First Term was held.
Since
the Conference was delayed for a year from its original date, for various reasons, it was
a meaningful day of commemoration in which the achievements of the new Order
during its first term were recognized and, at the same time, the start of the second term
was celebrated.
The Conference was held at the renovated Won-Kwang University
Square. A central member of the Head Circle Council, Yu Heo-il, commenced the
meeting with an opening address. There were over 5,000 congregants in attendance.
This was followed by the Head Dharma Master’s address of appreciation, and a
commemorative address by Yi Kongju, the president of the Association.
The
believers’ records of performance in study and work during the first term were
announced along with the presentation of report cards.
Following the congratulatory
addresses, by key political figures, three cheers for Won-Buddhism were exclaimed!
On this joyous note the Conference came to a close.
That afternoon, for the very first time, the Orders of Lotus [Yeonhwa-Jang]
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were presented to Kim Yeongsin and Jo Jeonkwon in the first conferment ceremony.
At the meeting of the General Assembly held the following day, Head Dharma Master
Chongsan was reappointed and through the first general election, the reorganization of
the membership to the Head Circle Council was conducted. Kim Daegeo was elected
the Chief Administrator, and Yi Kongju was elected the Director of the Judicial Bureau,
to whom the management of the Order in its second term was entrusted.
That year, the
Order decided that the years would be designated and recorded as “Wonki” (the Won
Buddhist Year).
Furthermore the newly established ancestral memorial service [Dae-
Jae] protocols were implemented.
The sacred tower dedicated to Sotaesan was erected.
Thereby, the first series of projects to continue the sacred work of Sotaesan, into which
both the laity and the ordained put their hearts and souls, in spite of financial crisis
during the War, came to an end.
As for the record of performance achieved by the believers in study and work as
a whole, out of 1,754 congregants who attained quasi-grade 5 or above, 258 were
Jeonmu-Chulshin and 1,496 were Keojin-Chuljin (non-clerical believers highly learned
and exemplary in practice who have greatly contributed to the work of the Order).
Among the 258 Jeonmu-Chulshin, 8 received quasi-special grade, 17 received first
grade, 20 received quasi-grade 1, 6 received grade 2, 40 received quasi-grade 2, 28
received grade 3, 48 received quasi-grade 3, 31 received grade 4, 31 received quasigrade 4, 10 received grade 5, 13 received quasi-grade 5, and 6 were reserved for further
observation.
Out of the 1,496 Keojin-Chuljin, 1 received quasi-special grade, 3
received grade 1, 6 received quasi-grade 1, 8 received grade 2, 16 received quasi-grade
2, 23 received grade 3, 78 received quasi-grade 3, 51 received grade 4, 179 received
quasi-grade 4, 211 received grade 5, 881 received quasi-grade 5, 39 were given special
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recognition.
The Jeonmu-Chulshin who received quasi-special grade included Yi Kongju,
Song Doseong, Kim Kwangseon, Kim Kicheon, Yi Dong-an, Yi Dongjinhwa, O
Changgeon, and Yi Jaecheol. The Keojin-Chuljin who received quasi-special grade
was Hwang Jeongsinhang.
In terms of dharma title, those with the dharma title of
Jeong-Sa or higher included Song Doseong, who had attained the title of Won-Jeong-Sa.
Kim Kwangseon, Kim Kicheon, Yi Dong-an, O Changgeon, Yi Jaecheol, Pak Secheol,
Yi Ineuhwa, and Seo Dongpung, also received the title of Jeong-Sa.
After a summary was given on the record of performance in study and work,
Head Dharma Master Chongsan spoke: “Although much effort was put into ensuring
fairness, how can we hope for everyone’s hidden merit in study and in work to be
brought to full light?
Therefore, those who leave genuine assessment up to truth,
which knows no margin of error, and use the grades given this time around to set the
standard in their own minds to further put forth their efforts into accumulating merits in
the days to come, are our true brethren and genuine persons of high merit.
The
departed spirits who performed better than recognized by means of their ranks and
grades will have a clear conscience when honored and memorialized in the shrine of
eternal commemoration [Yeong-Mo-Jeon] in the future, while those who performed less
than recognized will, no doubt, be ashamed to be undeservedly treated in such an
honorable manner.”
3. Total Number of Believers in the First Term
The total number of believers in the first term since the founding of the Order
reached 322,440, among which 32,244 were believers with assigned posts, and 290,196
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were lay believers.
There were over 260 Jeonmu-Chulshin.
Forty temples were built
respectively in Iksan, Iri, Namseon, Sugye, Samrye, Yeongsan, Sinheung, Daema,
Doyang, Kwangju, Bongdong, Wangsheon, Seoul, Kaeseong, Chuncheon, Maryeong,
Jeonju, Jwapo, Kwancheon, Junggil, Imsil, Jangsu, Dangri, Kyeongnam, Choryang,
Yong-am, Jinyeong, Dadae, Geumsan, Yongsin, Sintae-in, Hwahae, Jeongeup, Seungbu,
Namwon, Wunbong, Hogok, Geumpyeong, Osu, and Kunsan. Ten branch temples
were established in Hamyeol, Deokyrong, Sanseo, Mokdong, Inweol, Changpyeong,
Sunchang, Mokpo, Masan, and Bu-an.
Although not listed above, the fact that
Mokdangang in Manchuria was a site for a temple sought by Jang Byeokjo, for which
Won Buddhist Minister Pak Daewan was dispatched, only to be forced to withdraw due
to the Japanese oppression, was the second instance of overseas propagation activity.
As for the institutions operated by the Order, the three educational institutions
included Won-kwang university, Won-kwang Middle and High Schools, and Wonkwang Academy of Doyang.
The seven charity institutions included Bohwawon in
Seoul, Bohwawon in Iksan, nursing homes in Sinryong and Jeonju, and three other
institutions.
The seven industrial institutions included Samchang Company,
Bowhadang Herbal Medicine Store, Yuil Rice Mill, Samchang Orchard, Yiheung
Orchard, Yeongsan Orchard, and Geumsan Orchard.
With Wongkwangsa, the
publishing organ, the number of institutions totaled 18.
4. Compilation of the Revised “Book of Ceremonial” and Exemplary Events
Fully realizing the necessity of creating an education program and revised
protocols for the newly-developing Order from early on, Head Dharma Master
Chongsan completed the manuscript for all three parts of the new “Book of
Ceremonial” by September of the thirty-sixth year of Won Buddhism (1951), and
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published a draft in July of the following year (Won Buddhist year 37, [1952]).
The newly-compiled Book of Ceremonial consisted of Part 1:
Protocols
Governing Personal Conduct; Part 2: Protocols Governing Household Affairs, and
Part 3:
Protocols Governing the Affairs of the Order.
Compared to the earlier version,
the Protocols Governing Personal Conduct (which consisted of 19 chapters) now had
additions such as the rites of the sixtieth birthday and those of Cheon-Do-Jae (Memorial
Service for the Departed Spirit’s Journey into Nirvana). Therefore the Protocols
Governing Household Affairs was revised and expanded. In Protocols Governing the
Affairs of the Order, the rites of Bong-Bul (the enshrinement of Il-Won-Sang, the
Dharmakaya Buddha), dharma meetings, Deuk-Do (initiation into the Way), Eun-BupGyeol-Ui (pledging of sworn-family ties), Dae-Sa (inauguration and retirement of
incoming and outgoing Head Dharma Masters), Bon-Go (dedication), special
Supplication, celebration, Yeong-Mo-Jeon (Shrine of Eternal Commemoration), DaeJae (ancestral memorial service), and the Won-Buddhist tenets, were all new additions.
Many other protocols were also modified.
In terms of ceremonial functions and etiquette to be observed, the Protocols
Governing Personal Conduct became the essential dharma, in which all believers were
to cultivate the way they carried themselves.
By standardizing the dates of
commemoration and the memorial tablets for the spirits of all the successive forefathers
after Sotaesan, the Dae-Jae protocols performed before Yeong-Mo-Jeon (Shrine of
Eternal Commemoration) prescribed a joint ancestral memorial service. Hence, on the
first day in June of the thirty-eighth year of Won Buddhism (1953), by performing a
summer Dae-Jae (ancestral memorial service) in a collective, the Order began its
implementation of the new ancestral memorial service protocols. That afternoon, there
was an unveiling of the sacred tower that was erected in dedication to Sotaesan in
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Yeongmo-Won (Won-Buddhism Memorial Park).
The Head Dharma Master Chongsan wrote a momumental inscription which
was engraved in the stone, and for the first time announced to the realm of Truth, the
fact that the new Order was the religious order that would work towards the salvation of
the new world and that Sotaesan would be the great teacher of the new era. The last
paragraph of the inscription reads: “Alas! The great sage, Sotaesan was born and raised
in a remote and poor village.
Although Sotaesan had no formal education, he attained
the ability to understand the fundamental principles on his own; although he had no
guidance from a teacher, he was enlightened to the Great Way. Although the country
was in great confusion due to erroneous politics, he never hesitated to engage in work.
When dealing with an obstinate sentient being, he was possessed of an all-round
capability. Although his disposition was as steady as a rock, his compassion was as
balmy as the spring weather; although he dealt with matters with broad-mindedness and
composure, he was painstakingly attentive to details.
While he had revised the old
dharma, he further strengthened the great moral cause; while he corrected the wrongs of
the time, he was without obstinacy.
Although he combined myriad dharmas into one
dharma, he clearly elucidated the distinctions. He applied the one truth to myriad
dharmas, yet the essence of the one truth was always revealed. By inwardly basing
himself on the principle of unsurpassed and marvelous truth and being outwardly
conversant with even the branches of all affairs and all things, Sotaesan opened up the
three worlds in the ten directions to the righteous dharma, the Great Path of Il-Won.
He is the Buddha of a billion incarnations and the embodiment of all buddhas and
sages.”
Meanwhile, in Won Budddhist year 41 (1956), the new Order adopted the event
originated by the monthly periodical Won-kwang in July of the previous year (1955).
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That day commemorated the day the nine original disciples of Sotaesan left thumb
prints of blood although none of their thumbs were cut. It was an event for celebration
for the Order that later developed into Dharma Authentication Day, one of the Order’s
four greatest occasions for celebration.
In August that year (Won Buddhist year 41
[1956]), the dharma of ancestral tablet arrangement before the Shrine of Eternal
Commemoration was partially revised, through which the memorial tablet representing
the spirits of those who had attained the title of Jong-Sa [Head Master, recipients of the
status of beyond the household or higher in dharma rank or those who had been the
Head Dharma Master] was placed in the middle of the shelves directly below Sotaesan’s
tablet.
The tablet commemorating those who attained the title of Dae-Bong-Do
[recipients of a dharma merit granted to ordained disciples] was positioned to the left of
the Jong-Sa tablet and those with the title of Dae-Ho-Bup [recipients of a dharma merit
granted to non-clerical believers] were placed to the right. At the general assembly
meeting held in April 1957 (Won Buddhist year 42), the first dharma merit conferment
ceremony was performed, through which the Order conferred the title of Jong-Sa on
Jusan Song Doseong, the title of Dae-Bong-Do on Palsan Kim Gwangseon and
Gutawon Yi Kongju, and the title of Dae-Ho-Bup on Paltawon Hwang Jeongsinhang.
In his address of gratitude, Head Dharma Master Chongsan said: “I highly
praise these four people, together with all those gathered here, for their performances
deserve dharma merits in both study and work.
They contributed largely to the
development of the Order in its early years. I also believe and hope that all the
believers, lay and ordained, male and female, will take this occasion to their hearts to
infinitely produce for the Order a great many number of Jong-Sa, Dae-Bong-Do, and
Dae-Ho-Bup.
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5. Reconstructive Work on Jeongkwanpyeong Embankment and Developing the
Sacred Ground
Thirty
years
passed
since
the
first
land
reclamation
project
in
Jeongkwangpyeong. The embankment required extensive repair work and it became
definite that its expansion and fortification would receive partial financial aid from the
government under the national reconstruction program.
In August Won Buddhist year
40 (1955), Jeongkwanpyeong Embankment Repair Propulsory Committee was
organized, with Head Dharma Master Chongsan as its president, Song Hyehwan as the
chairperson, and Kim Hongcheol as the deputy chairperson in charge of practical affairs.
In April of the following year, the ground-breaking ceremony was performed.
The groundwork was conducted with the help of labor services provided by the
members of the public service groups belonging to the temples in various regions.
Those who could not provide physical labor instead gave monetary donations. This
was followed by various phases of construction, including a tide embankment,
waterproofing measures, installation of two floodgates for drainage, bank protection
work for water storage, and underdrain work, all of which were completed in Won
Buddhist year 44 (1959).
Over 12 acres of new farmland was gained equipped with
complete irrigation facilities.
It was decided that the old dike, positioned inside the
newly developed farmland after the construction of the new embankment, would be
preserved as a monument.
Seventy percent of the total cost of the construction (over
30,000,000 Korean Won) was financed by government aid.
Meanwhile, a campaign headed by Kim Daegeo was underway to restore the
sacred ground of Yeongsan, which had been devastated during the war. Since Won
Buddhist year 43 (1958), the birthplace of Sotaesan and the whole area surrounding the
place of his great enlightenment were being purchased. From Won Buddhist year 44
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(1959), the year the embankment reconstruction ended, the sacred-ground development
project became more active.
While the area around Sotaesan’s birthplace was being
purchased, construction to expand and repair the road leading to the place of pilgrimage
was underway.
In January of the forty-fifth year of Won Buddhism (1960), the
administrative committee of the Board of Administration organized the Propulsory
Committee for the Development of the Sacred Ground of Yeongsan.
With the
inauguration of the Half Centennial Project Committee, a forest land surrounding the
sacred place of Sotaesan’s great enlightenment was purchased and repair work was done
on the great enlightenment hall in Yeongsan.
Chapter 2. Establishment of the Institutions Working Toward the Objectives
1. Three Greatest Objectives and Trials of the Nonprofit Corporations
Sotaesan often said: “The three objectives of our work are edification,
education, and charity, for whose parallel advance we must always endeavor, so that
there will be no flaws in our work.”
Although he made an effort to establish
institutions that would respectively pursue the three objectives, he was not completely
successful in his endeavor due to the adverse state of affairs of his time.
After the
country’s liberation from Japanese rule, the Won-Buddhist Constitution stipulated: “The
Order shall establish a kindergarten, a school, a moral culture center, a sanatorium, a
hospital, a nursing home, and an orphanage.” It also stipulated: “The kindergarten and
the school shall be the general education institutions; the moral culture center and the
sanatorium shall be the mental cultivation and convalescent facilities for persons of
merit; the hospital, the nursing home, and the orphanage shall be the general charity
institutions.”
Since then, the Order began to point to the balanced establishment of the
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institutions to pursue the three greatest objectives of the work.
However, the Order’s industrial organs, which provided financial assistance for
the maintenance and the work of the Order, mainly consisted of farms and orchards.
Thus the Order’s assets were in the form of farmland and forest land, including
Jeongkwanpyeong.
Among the farmland owned by the Order that was registered as a
nonprofit corporation after the country’s independence, over 89 acres of rice paddy and
36 acres of fields, which had not been under firsthand cultivation by the Order’s
personnel, were purchased by the government in accordance with the Farmland Reform
Act carried into effect in Won Buddhist year 35 (1950). Hence, the Order passed the
resolution to utilize the compensation payment for farmland from the government, and
switched from being an agriculture-oriented company to being a commerce-andindustry-oriented corporation.
Since a large surplus of yellow peaches were growing
at Samrye Orchard (mainly to be made into canned provisions), it was decided that a
large corporation whose main business would be wine-making would be established to
utilize the extra fruit. In August Won Buddhist year 36 (1951), a government-vested
property in Iri was purchased and Samchang Company, a nonprofit corporation, was
established.
“Samchang” means “to prosper the three great works”. Almost all of the
Order’s real estate was invested in this venture.
Although Samrye Orchard was placed
under its direct control, Samchang Company failed after three years of business without
producing the anticipated result due to economic instability caused by the political
convulsions at that time.
For several years afterwards, the General Headquarters
suffered great financial hardship, and thus decided to create the Committee for the
Maintenance Measures for the General Headquarters in November Won Buddhist year
42 (1957). It was not until May of the following year that some farmland (3.14 acres)
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needed for the maintenance of the General Headquarters was purchased.
2. Furtherance of Educative Work and the Won-kwang School Group
For 5 years since the establishment of the Yurim Institute, in the midst of
undergoing many hardships, the new Order steadily acted to advance the status of Yurim
Institute’s school of secondary grade to the status of a middle school, and the Institute’s
school of special grade to that of a college. In June Won Buddhist year 36 (1951), an
authorization was obtained to establish Won-kwang Middle School in Iri, followed by
an authorization to build Won-kwang College to the east of the General Headquarters, in
September that same year.
Pak Jangsink was appointed the first principal of the
Middle School and Pak Kwangjeon, the first dean of the College.
From Yeongsan
Seminary, in the early days, through institutions at the General Headquarters and night
schools at temples in various regions, which included the General Headquarters, to the
national script training centers and Hakrim education after the country’s liberation, the
educative work of the new Order developed into a full-fledged educative system that
combined the founding spirit of the new Order and the educational philosophy to
ultimately form the Won-kwang School Group.
Won-kwang College started out as a junior college specializing in WonBuddhism, and was located inside the General Headquarters compound as part of the
continuance of the sacred work of the first term, until the site for the school was secured.
The construction of the school building was first launched in July Won Buddhist year 37
(1952), and the school was raised to the status of a 4-year college specializing in WonBuddhism and Korean literature in January Won Buddhist year 38 (1953).
This was
followed by the completion of the first main building in March of that year and the
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completion of the library in Won Buddhist year 39 (1954), to which the collection of
books housed in the General Headquarters Library was relinquished. Thereafter, the
establishment of new departments as well as extension work to the main building
followed every year.
In Won Buddhist year 52 (1967), a graduate school was
established, and in December Won Buddhist year 56 (1971), the College was raised to
the status of a university.
Won-kwang University, not only contributed to society and
the nation through university education, but it also produced numerous religious
workers for the new Order through the department of Won-Buddhism. The WonBuddhism Research Society and Research Institute of Religious Issues, the auxiliary
organs of the University, made substantial contributions to the establishment of Won
Buddhist Studies of the new Order and a comparative study of Won-Buddhism and
other religions.
The site for Won-kwang Middle School was secured in October of the thirtyseventh year of Won Buddhism (1952), and the high school was established in February
of Won Buddhist year 39 (1954). In April of that year, the first school building was
completed, followed by the second building in May Won Buddhist year 40 (1955). In
September of that year and in September of the following year, the extension works to
the building were conducted, after which the school for girls was separately operated in
April of the forty-second year of Won Buddhism (1957).
In June of Won Buddhisty
year 50 (1965), the construction of the third building began and in April of Won
Buddhist year 51 (1966), Jeong Gwanghun was appointed the school’s second principal.
Won-kwang Middle and High School for Girls opened in April of Won
Buddhist year 41 (1956), as a girls’ institute (with Pak Jangsik as the director) affiliated
with Won-kwang University.
It first conducted its classes in the auditorium at
Bohwawon in Iksan, but later relocated to Won-kwang Middle School in April of Won
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Buddhisty year 42 (1957), where it took in more female middle school students. In
February Won Buddhis year 45 (1969), it obtained authorization to establish a middle
school and a vocational high school for girls, for which Jeong Seongsuk was appointed
as the first principal. The financial support from Beop-Eun Foundation and various
temples, secured the site and buildings, thus allowing the school to finally become
independent.
The Won-kwang Institute was established, in WonBuddhist year 37 (1952), as
an affiliation of the Doyang District.
It was transformed into the Doyang Civil
Education High School, and then to the Haeryong Agricultural Technology School,
which served as the basis for the establishment of the Haeryong Middle School as part
of the Order’s half centennial commemorative work. TheWon-kwang Civil Education
High School was established as an educational institution inside Bohwawon in Iksan in
Won Buddhist year 40.
This High School continued with the General Headquarters’
tradition of night school, since the 20’s, and it also contributed substantially to the
modernization of the General Headquarters and training of the religious workers.
3. Establishing the Three Zen Centers and Scholarship Projects
At the meeting of the Association of Ordained Clergy in January of the fortieth
year of Won Buddhism 40 (1955), three Zen Centers, under the direct supervision of the
General Headquarters, were established and publicly announced. It was decided that
the Advanced Zen Center in Iri, which had been established in June of the thirty-eighth
year of Won Buddhism (1953), would be transformed into the Dongsan Zen Center, the
General Headquarters Zen Center would be renamed the Central Zen Center, and
Yeongsan Institute would change its name to the Yeongsan Zen Center.
Three Zen
centers would be placed under the direct control of the General Headquarters to develop
99
them into the base of operations for producing religious workers for the new Order.
Hence, the Dongsan Zen Center first operated with Yi Wunkwon as its first
director, (the former deputy director of the Advanced Zen Center).
of the Center graduated in March Won Buddhist year 40.
and Ahn Yijeong succeeded to the directorship.
The first students
Afterwards, Jo Jeonkwon
It continued to provide training in
meditation, and every year produced ordained workers for the new Order.
also done at the Won-Buddhism Department of Won-kwang University.
This was
The Central
Zen Center, with Yi Wunkwon as its first director (who concurrently directed the
Dongsan Zen Center), maintained its old system until Won Buddhisty year 42 (1957),
when Yi Wancheol was appointed as the head director. On November 6th, it held its first
pre-training ceremony.
The basis for the Order’s independent maintenance and
operation did not take root due to financial difficulty.
Thus, it suspended operations
and reopening did not occur until it was merged with the Dongsan Zen Center.
From
Won Buddhist year 54 (1969), it maintained its minimal existence as a residential Zen
center within the General Headquarters compound, and later evolved into the Central
Training Center.
The Yeongsan Zen Center was not inaugurated until Won Buddhist year 47
(1962), due to necessary restoration work caused by war devastation and the
Jeongkwanpyeong re-embankment.
When the Yeongsan District restored the system
in the form of an institution, Ahn Yijeong was appointed as the first director, in Won
Buddhist year 49 (1964).
The Center opened as a Zen center offering dual agricultural
training programs at the intermediate and advanced level. Then, in Won Buddhist year
54 (1969), O Jongtae, the second director, by combining the two programs into one,
opened a way for the trainees to progress to the advanced level Zen center, thus
contributing to the training of the religious workers.
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Meanwhile, in April of the forty-second year of Won Buddhism (1957), the
Won-Buddhist Scholarship Foundation was inaugurated. The Order’s long-term wish
to train the talented to become workers for the Order, since its early years, began with
the activities of the Founding Group for the Education Department in Won Buddhist
year 12 (1927).
This was followed by the Rules and Regulations of the Order
established in Won Buddhist yeart 19.
These Rules and Regulations stipulated that the
Education Department was one of the ten departments to have an agency whose sole
purpose was to raise funds for education.
However, due to the turbulent state of affairs
at that time, the results fell short of expectations, and the Department was excluded
from the Order’s list of organs in Won Buddhist year 27 (1942).
Since then, as the
schools’ and the Zen centers’ activities of raising and training the religious workers
gradually progressed, a scholarship foundation came to be established.
With the
revision of the Constitution (Won Buddhist year 44 [1959]), the Department of
Education (with Seo Daein as the department head) was reinstated, and the education
and scholarship endeavor gained strength. Through his thank you speech, delivered at
the inauguration ceremony for the Foundation, Head Dharma Master Chongsan said:
“The Chu Dynasty was said to have cherished only the benevolent.
Let us raise and
train our fellow brethren who possess deep faith and devoted public spirit and truly
cherish them as the treasures of our eternal work and the assets of the Order.”
In Won Buddhist year 43 (1958), Kim Hyeonkwan of Mokpo, out of his desire
to further the educational endeavors, began a large-scale ginseng farm in Sugye Farm as
a yearly program.
The profits from this went towards establishing Eunsan Educational
Foundation in May Won Buddhist year 46 (1961). In October of that year, the Articles
of the Won-Buddhist Educational Foundation were enacted. This was followed by the
formation of a substantially large-scale scholarship foundation through a campaign to
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enlist members for the foundation. In May Won Buddhist year 47 (1962), the Board of
Trustees of the Won-Buddhist Educational Foundation (with Kim Donghyeon as its
chairman) was formed to continuously support the Order’s grand long-term education
and scholarship programs.
4. Pioneering Charity Work and Sanatorium Project
The new Order’s charity work, for which Sotaesan had wished to very large
extent while he was alive, began with relief for the war victims immediately following
the country’s Liberation from Japanese rule in 1945.
In November of that year, the
first fruitful result of the endeavor was achieved when an orphanage, Bohwawon of
Seoul, was established in Hannam-dong.
In January Won Buddhisty year 36 (1951),
Bohwawon of Iksan (with Song Hyehwan as its first director) was inaugurated, which
accepted some of the orphans housed at Bohwawon in Seoul. They were relocated to the
General Headquarters during the January Fourteenth Retreat.
By assuming the
operation of Iri Orphanage, whose managerial responsibility was transferred from the
City of Iri in May of Won Buddhist year (1953), the new Order strengthened its footing
in taking care of homeless children.
Meanwhile, as the result of its relentless pursuit of establishing a nursing home
at the General Headquarters since April of the thirty-fourth year of Won Buddhism
(1949), the new Order obtained authorization to open a nursing facility for the elderly in
March Won Buddhist year 37 (1952).
The Shinryong Nursing Home (with Song
Hyehwan as its first director) was established inside the General Headquarters. With
the construction of the nursing home in July Won Buddhist year 41 (1956), the Home
was renamed the Central Culture Center and was relocated to the new building.
The
Jeonju Nursing Home that was established around the same time, and the Dongrae
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Culture Center, established in April Won Buddhist year 48 (1963), also contributed
substantially to protecting the homeless elderly and nurturing the Order’s elder
members who contributed in various ways.
Also, in order to establish a sanatorium and a charity hospital facility, to
provide health care services to Jeonmu-Chulshin, the Geumsan Orchard was purchased
with funds from Bohwadang in March Won Buddhist year 35 (1950). In addition, the
Geumsan Sanatorium was established (with Yi Dongjinhwa as its first director). This
later was moved to the General Headquarters in Won Buddhist year 38 (1953), and was
transformed into the Central Sanatorium (with Song Hyehwan as its director) in April
Won Buddhist year 39 (1954).
In May Won Buddhist year 40 (1955), a new building
that doubled as Bukil-myeon Clinic was constructed.
Then in October Won Buddhist
year 42 (1957), with the authorization to open the Donghwa Hospital, a government
fund was received. In Won Buddhist year 44 (1959), this fund was used for the
completion of a two-story hospital building with the total floor space of 870 square
yards.
However, due to personnel difficulties and managerial conflicts, its relocation,
suspension of operations, and reopening, followed until it joined hands with the BeopEun Foundation.
After the merger, it took great pains to achieve its intended goal.
Chapter 3. The Basis of the World of Il-Won Buddhism
1. Rigorous Observance of the Four Duties and Revisions to the Constitution
On April 26th, in the fortieth year of Won Buddhism (1955), the period of
emphasis for the four duties of the believers was promulgated at the ceremony to
celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Order’s founding.
The four duties refer to
morning and evening prayer, helping others, guidance of people to the Won-Buddhist
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faith, and observance of the regulations. The purpose of the promulgation was to
insure the substantiality and expansion of the Order’s religious influence by
emphasizing and implementing the four duties of the believers.
Prior to the Promulgation, the Board of Administration (with Kim Daegeo as
the Chief Administrator), publicly announced the period of emphasis for the four duties.
This was part of an all-round edification development policy and was done in addition
to measures such as, the yearly program of emphasizing guidance of people to the WonBuddhist faith, the launching of regularly-scheduled propagation broadcasting, the
establishment of the student organizations, and the performing of a joint coming-of-age
ceremony in January Won Buddhist year 40. This would be the first time since the
proclamation of the newly revised Book of Ceremonial.
The campaign received a positive response from each temple, as the result of
which 11 temples were commended with the Edification Award, 24 believers with the
Special Guidance Award, and 11 edifications groups with the Edification–Group Award.
From Won Buddhist year 44 (1959), edification was further strengthened by the
establishment of an edification proposal, the establishment of a yearly plan for the
period of emphasis of gratitude, the establishment of the month of special devotion, and
reading and memorizing the verses from the scriptures.
On April 25th of that year (Won Buddhist year 44 [1959]), the proposal for the
revision of the Constitution was passed by the General Assembly.
The Constitution,
which consisted of 225 articles covered in 24 chapters divided into 2 parts, was
drastically condensed into 81 articles and 11 chapters. At that time separately enacted
regulations governing the organizational structures of the Board of Administration and
the Board of Inspection were also adopted.
The notable characteristic of the revised
Constitution, which was concretely mapped out by Pak Jangsik and four other research
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committee members (Appendix 24) in June Won Buddhist year 40 (1955), was that the
Organizational System, Part Two of the first Constitution, was only mentioned in terms
of its general principles. The particulars were stipulated in the Rules and Regulations.
The day following the amendment of the Constitution, Head Dharma Master
Chongsan spoke at the inauguration ceremony held for his third reappointment. “With
our Order’s influence always expanding anew, not only are we gradually gaining the
recognition of the country and society, but also all our grounds for propagandizing the
world are maturing step-by-step.” He emphasized: “Let us become internationalists.”
The newly-revised Constitution was amended again 5 years later (Won
Buddhist year 49 [1964]).
The 86 articles in 11 chapters were changed to 90 articles in
10 chapters, and the clause, “with the Principal Book as the main scripture”, was
modified to read “with the Books of the Order as the main scripture.”
The
Administrative Committee, which had been a consultative organ, was empowered in
reality as a legislative organ that preceded the General Assembly. The clause, “through
the resolution of the Head Circle Council”, was inserted in the three articles stipulating
the authorized powers of the Head Dharma Master. The Consultative Committee to
the Head Dharma Master, the Office of dharma Affairs, the Office of Head Circle
Council, and the Office of the General Assembly, were newly established and the
system of dharma merit and record of performance were provided.
2. Praying for the Prosperous Future of Won-Buddhism and Seeking Ways for
Overseas Propagation
From January 27th, of the fortieth year of Won Buddhism (1955), by the
instruction of Head Dharma Master Chongsan, the grand prayer meetings, to entreat for
world peace and a prosperous future for Won-Buddhism, began on a regular basis
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throughout the Order. Since the time of the Nine Members’ supplication that resulted
in dharma Confirmation, the new Order prayed for the happiness of humanity and a
prosperous future for Won-Buddhism.
Entreating for world peace was done during the
course of a regular dharma meeting held on the first of every month.
Upon receiving
information that the World Conference of Believers of the Buddhist Faith, would start to
meet for a grand prayer meeting to entreat for world peace on the day of the full moon
of each month, the Order began to hold its grand prayer meeting on the same day as the
world’s other Buddhist denominations did.
This was done in order “to join our
energies in this endeavor and thus to befit the Il-Won”.
The regular grand prayer meetings that had continued for 17 months until May
14th, of the forty-first year of Won Buddhism (1956), was a grand-scale event, through
which the new Order accumulated its energies prior to seeking ways for overseas
propagation.
At these meetings over 100,000 fellow believers participated.
In January Won Buddhist year 40 (1955), the new Order sent Pak Gwangjeon,
the dean of Won-kwang College, on an observation trip to the West to inspect the
western religions, culture, and education, as well as to look for an opportunity to
propagate the teachings of the Buddha overseas.
At the meeting of the Association of
Ordained Clergy that year, the pipal tree and the lotus were selected to be the tree and
flower of the Order.
That same year, Won-kwang College established the Won-
Buddhism Research Society.
In October Won Buddhist year 43 (1958), Doctor Richard A. Guard, an
American Buddhist scholar and a special advisor to the Asia Foundation, visited the
General Headquarters, and gave a lecture entitled “The Prospects for Korean
Buddhism”.
Meanwhile in November, Pak Gwangjeon, was sent to the World
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Conference of Believers of the Buddhist Faith to represent the Order. The conference
was held in Thailand. In November Won Buddhist year 45 (1960), the Research
Society for Overseas Propagation (with Pak Gwangjeon as the president) was
inaugurated and was entrusted with the task of translating the Books of the Order. This
task was undertaken by Jeongwhasa.
Later, it was reorganized as the Research
Institute of Overseas Propagation (with Jeon Palgeun as the director). In affiliation
with Won-kwang College, it began to publish “Won-Buddhism”, an English periodical
aimed at overseas propagation.
3.
Compilation of the Dae-Jong-Geong [The Analects of Sotaesan] and the
Rearrangement of the Principal Book
Through the resolution of the Head Circle Council in May Won Buddhist year
41 (1956), the Committee for the Compilation of the Dae-Jong-Geong [The Analects of
Sotaesan] was inaugurated.
The Head Dharma Master Chongsan was the chairperson,
the male and female central members of the Head Circle Council (Kim Daegeo and Yi
Kongju) were the steering members, and the entire membership of the Head Circle
Council (Appendix 25) was the advisors.
Also Yi Gongjeon was appointed as the
expert advisor in charge of editing. The compilation of the Dae-Jong-Geong [The
Analects of Sotaesan] was proposed and discussed immediately following Sotaesan’s
passing.
The task had been entrusted to the Association for the Continuance of
Sotaesan’s Sacred Work, but this made little progress. Then, around this time, the
dharma taught by Sotaesan, which had been personally recorded by him during his life
time, and those recorded by Song Doseong and other disciples (Appendix 26) who had
served him closely, began to be publicly collected and arranged.
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Upon completing the general collection of data, the Committee for the
Compilation of the Dae-Jong-Geong moved the site of compilation to Sandong Temple
in Namwon.
There it nearly concluded the task of abridging and arranging the
collected data, as well as dividing them into chapters.
Hence, in May Won Buddhist
year 43 (1958), Head Dharma Master Chongsan, who had been recuperating at Jangsu
Temple from illness, established the Jeonghwasa and entrusted it with the compilation
and publication of the Scriptures and the Books of the Order.
The Jeonghwasa was to
promptly proceed with the compilation of not only the Dae-Jong-Geong, but also
various other books of the Order. With Yi Kongjeon as the head officer, it continued
with the tasks of consultation, re-compilation, and editorial supervision.
Meanwhile, through the Head Circle Council’s resolution “to revise and finetune the Principal Book and to move forward with its republication”, in January Won
Buddhist year 45 (1960), the Jeonghwasa proceeded with the compilation of the DaeJong-Geong, as well as the rearrangement of the Principal Book.
The Principal Book
of Won-Buddhism, which had been hastily completed a year prior to Sotaesan’s demise
and published with great difficulty at the peak of Japanese oppression, had not been
accurately recorded due to pressing circumstances (Chapter 3 of the Requests, DaeJong-Geong [The Analects of Sotaesan]).
Hence, in addition to the parts that
underwent partial revision and reprinting in Won Buddhist year 34 (1949), the parts that
could be interpreted as if Sotaesans’ original purpose had been confined to a certain
region or a certain religious denomination were rectified to follow his real intention,
while its name was restored to the “Principal Book” and its order was adjusted in
connection with Dae-Jong-Geong.
All of this was to be conducted through
Jeonghwasa under the personal decision by the Head Dharma Master.
Then, during the course of proceeding with the compilation, Head Dharma
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Master Chongsan’s health further deteriorated and he delivered his last special
instruction on December 25th Won Buddhist year 46 (1961), which appointed Kim
Daegeo, Yi Kongju, Yi Wancheol, Pak Gwangjeon, Yi Wunkwon, and Pak Jangsik to
supervise the compilation of the scriptures and the books of the Order, and urged the
people, respectively in charge of various aspects of the Compilation, to press ahead with
their tasks.
4. Promulgation of the Three Principles of Ethics and the Establishment of the
Beop-Eun Foundation
On April 26th, of the forty-sixth year of Won Buddhism (1961), a ceremony was
held in the General Headquarters and temples in all regional districts to celebrate both
the 46th anniversary of the Order’s founding, and the 60th birthday of Head Dharma
Master Chongsan.
That morning, at the General Headquarters, the Head Dharma
Master asked that only a simple ceremony be performed in order “to do away with all
empty formalities and conduct a plain and frugal ceremony”.
By means of the
commemorative dharma instruction, Head Dharma Master Chongsan said, “By
explaining the gist of the Three Principles of Ethics that would serve as the fundamental
principles in our building the one world in the future, I would like to pledge our original
vow anew with my fellow believers” and officially declared the Three Principles of
Ethics.
Head Dharma Master Chongsan spoke: “The first of the Three Principles of
Ethics is the Principle of Common Religious Origin, which means by knowing that all
religions and religious assemblies are of one root, we can be in perfect harmony with
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one another. The second is the Principle of Connection through Common Life Energy,
which means by knowing that the essence of all races and sentient beings are brethren
connected through one life energy, we can be in perfect harmony with one another.
The third is the Principle of Common Mission, which means by knowing that all works
and assertions equally serve as the fuel to improve the world, we can be in perfect
harmony with one another.”
In May of that year (Won Buddhist year 46 [1961]), the Beop-Eun Foundation,
[the healthcare foundation for Jeonmu-Chulshin], was established and its steering
committee was formed.
wish for a long time.
The Beop-Eun Foundation was the Head Dharma Master’s
Prior to his sixtieth birthday celebration ceremony, Head Dharma
Master Chongsan requested: “While I am under the devoted care of many fellow
believers during my stage of illness my fellow Jeonmu-Chulshin, who have fallen ill
while sincerely and devotedly working for the Order in various places, have yet to have
the means of financial support from the Order. This often times pains me and brings
me anxiety.
Those who wish to express good-fellowship can commemorate my
sixtieth birthday by originating a foundation that will take measures to provide
healthcare services to Jeonmu-Chulshin.” The fellow believers lay and ordained at the
General Headquarters and temples in all provisional districts upheld the request, and
raised funds on the day of the Celebration, and with these funds the Foundation was
established. The statutes of the foundation were enacted and its steering committee
was formed.
Later, in July of the fifty-second year of Won Buddhism (1967), with the
inauguration of the Beop-Eun Society, an association for the support of the Beop-Eun
Foundation, which had conducted a campaign to increase the fund until Won Buddhist
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year 54 (1969), the Foundation was substantially expanded. With the use of the funds,
numerous convalescing Jeonmu-Chulshins continuously received the grace of dharma.
Chapter 4. Moving Forward with the Fruition of the Sacred Work
1. The Passing of Chongsan and the Succession of Daesan as the Head Dharma
Master
Head Dharma Master Chongsan passed away on January 24th, Won Buddhist year
47 (1962). For 19 years, he held three terms as Order’s Head Dharma Master, after
succeeding Sotaesan. During which time, he completed the organizational system of
the Order, led the continuance of Sotaesan’s sacred work, established institutions
working toward the objectives, and thus, solidified the grounds for building the World
of Il-Won. During his period as Head Dharma Master, there were many challenges
such as the Japanese oppression, the chaotic state of affairs at the initial stage of the
country’s founding, and the Order’s financial hardships. In his latter years, while
Master Chongsan was recuperating from his illness, he applied all his energies to
supervising the compilation of the Books of the Order until January of that year. On
January 22nd, he taught the Three Principles of Ethics to the public. His memorable
teaching is the transmission verse, “with unitary truth as within a single fence, as with
one family within one household, as with co-workers at a single work site, let us
construct the world Il-Won.” After sharing this great teaching with posterity, Master
Chongsan passed away on January 24th.
He died at the age of sixty-three and lived a
life as a Kyomunim for 45 years.
Immediately after Master Chongsan’s passing, the chief administrator, Yi
Wancheol, temporarily took charge as the acting Head Dharma Master. He quickly
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called a joint meeting of the Head Circle Council and the executive officers.
Master
Chongsan’s dharma status was raised to the position of the Greatly Enlightened
Tathagata.
The funeral committee (with Pak Gwangjeon as the chairperson) was
formed soon thereafter. On the morning of the 28th, the final farewell ceremony was
performed at the Wonkwang University Square, followed by the cremation ceremony at
Iri Crematorium.
Headquarters.
After which, the holy remains were stored in the General
The mourners at the General Headquarters and throughout the
provincial districts, simultaneously observed the commemoration ceremony [Bong-DoSik] as well as memorial services, the first through to the final, which were performed to
pray for Head Dharma Master Chongsan’s entrance into Nirvana.
The meeting of the Head Circle Council was held after the funeral ceremonies
on January 31st. Dharma Master Daesan Kim Daegeo, the male central member of the
Head Circle Council at the time, was elected to be the succeeding Head Dharma Master.
On February 23rd, through the General Assembly’s official procedure, the inauguration
ceremony for the incoming Head Dharma Master was held in the great enlightenment
hall at the General Headquarters.
Head Dharma Master Daesan was born in Jwapo-ri, Seongsu-myeon, Jinan-gun,
in Jeolabuk-do on March 16th by the lunar calendar, in the year 2 before Won-Buddhism
(1914).
He was the oldest of the five children of Yeonsan Kim Ino and Bongtawon
Ahn Kyeongsin.
Since early childhood, others recognized his valiant spirit and
magnanimous disposition, and predicted that he would become a man of great value.
At age 11, he followed his grandmother to Manduk Mountain and became a devout
believer in Sotaesan. By age 16, he joined the Order, and studied at the General
Headquarters for three years.
with Sotaesan.
During which time, he formed close father-and-son ties
For the following seven years, he successively filled the secretarial
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post at the departments of general affairs, cooperative association, public service,
education, and religious affairs, while also serving Sotaesan for 5 years as he would his
father.
From Won Buddhist year (1937), he was successively appointed as the head of
various departments, such as the Department of General Affairs, the Department of
Religious Affairs, the Department of Inspection, and the head minister, doubling as the
minister officiating the services at the General Headquarters.
In Won Buddhist year
(1943), he became a member of the Head Circle Council through a by-election, and was
appointed the head of the Seoul Branch Office of the General Headquarters in Won
Buddhist year 31 (1946).
next three years.
He then contributed to the development of the Order for the
It was a tumultuous time fraught with difficulties immediately
following the country’s liberation. Since his appointment as the head of the Seoul
Branch Office, he arranged materials for the compliation of the Dae-Jong-Geong [The
Analects of Sotaesan], while regaining his health in places such as Wonpyeong, the
General Headquarters, Jinyeong, Dadae and so forth.
In Won Budddhist year 37
(1952), he was elected the Center of the Head Circle Council and received the dharma
title “Daesan”.
He was also elected as the Chief Administrator. In Won Buddhist
year 44 (1959), although he was elected as the director of the Central Zen Center, he
established the foundations for the Jeongkwanpyeong re-embankment and the
development of the sacred ground, while recuperating in Yeongsan.
From Won
Buddhist year 46, while drafting teaching materials in Haseom and Sindo, he was
specially instructed, by Head Dharma Master Chongsan, to fill the post of the chief
editor for Jeonghwasa, and following Chongsan’s demise, was elected to be the
succeeding Head Dharma Master.
Meanwhile, at this time, each department of the General Headquarters
underwent personnel changes, as the result of which, Pak Gwangjeon was elected to fill
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the position of the male central member of the Head Circle Council.
Pak Jangsik was
appointed as the Chief Administrator, and Yi Wancheol was appointed the Director of
the Judicial Bureau.
Mun Donghyeon was appointed the chairperson for the General
Assembly.
2. Publishing the Scripture of Won-Buddhism and Systematizing the Books of
Won-Buddhism
In February of the forty-seventh year of Won Buddhism (1962), after adopting
the proposal made by Jeonghwasa, the Head Circle Council passed the resolution to
combine and publish the Principal Book, [which was the only volume of the Principal
Book of Won-Buddhism], and the newly-compiled Dae-Jong-Geong [The Analects of
Sotaesan] as the Scripture of Won-Buddhism.
Hence, the rough draft of the Scripture
of Won-Buddhism underwent editorial supervision, appraisal, and the Head Circle
Council’s approval before it finally went to the printing press, and was eventually
published on September 26th of that year (Won Buddhist year 47 [1962]).
With its
publication, the new Order completed the main scripture to be used for generations to
come.
On October 7th, the scripture-dedication ceremony and the congratulatory
ceremony were held in the great enlightenment hall at the General Headquarters.
Through his dharma preaching, Head Dharma Master Daesan said:
“Our
Scripture is the great dharma treasure that is so rare and will be unique for all
generations, for it will produce in the years to come a thousand buddhas and ten
thousand bodhisattvas who will lead an infinite number of sentient beings to salvation
and open up the gateway to wisdom and blessings for all living spirits.” He also said:
“My fellow believers, let us rejoice and celebrate the publication of the Scripture,
together with the six destinies and the four forms of life in the threes worlds in the ten
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directions, and at the same time let us further dedicate ourselves to the study and the
work, so that the grace of dharma will evenly touch the boundless sentient beings in the
immeasurable universe.”
A reading session, in which the Scripture was perused,
substituted for the meditation session for the ordained clergy.
Meanwhile, Jeonghwasa widely presented the newly-published Scripture to
various domestic and overseas circles, and thus propagated the Won-Buddhist teachings
in all corners of the world.
From then, under the slogan, “Let us bear fruit for the holy
50’s through systematization”, the new books of the Order began to be systematized and
published successively, based on the compilation policy which had been tentatively
arranged by the late Head Master Chongsan.
In December of the fiftieth year of Won Buddhism (1965), the Essential
Discourses of the Buddha was published as the ancient scripture of origin. It was the
revised version of the five scriptures, including the Diamond Sutra, which had been
entered into Books Two and Three of the Principal Book of Won Buddhism by Sotaesan,
as well as the Three Doctrines, including Secrets on Cultivating the Mind.
In March of the fifty-third year of Won Buddhism (1968), the new Book of
Ceremonial, which had gone through repeated revising and supplementing, and the
Book of Hymns, which was comprised of 126 songs, were simultaneously published.
A recital commemorating the publication of the Book of Hymns was held on a grand
scale in the great enlightenment hall at the General Headquarters.
The Jeonghwasa published, in January Won Buddhist year 57 (1972), “The
Dharma Words by Head Master Chongsan”, which was comprised of Part One, the
Canon of the World and Part Two, Dharma Words. The Jeonghwasa dissolved after the
publication of this “History of Won-Buddhism”, which reflects the growth of the new
Order’s 50 years’ work and the Won-Buddhist Constitution.
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3. Moving Forward with the Three Objectives of Edification and the Campaign
to Advance the Dharma Status
Since Won Buddhist year 48 (1963), prior to the commemorative conference to
celebrate the half centennial anniversary of the founding of the Order, and in order to
bring the 50 years’ work to full fruition, the new Order established and promoted the
three objectives of edification:
to guide people into the Won-Buddhist faith, to
increase the number of edification groups, and to establish affiliate temples. To increase
the number of edification groups meant to urge all believers to carry out the Four Duties
by further promoting the ten-member grouping system of administration and edification.
Also, one edification group was to establish more than one new edification group.
To
establish affiliate temples meant to have one temple establish more than one new temple
so that by having each temple set up new affiliate temples, the Great Path of Il-Won
would be extended all around the country and the world.
By having the three objectives conducted as an annual program and awarding
prizes after collecting statistical figures, successful results were produced every year
starting from the first year.
By Won Buddhist year 56 (1971), 86,014 believers, 1,687
edification groups, and 108 temples were created.
This marked a major turning point
for the expansion of the Order’s religious influence prior to the 50 years’ fruition
conference.
Meanwhile, in October Won Buddhist year 49, the Head Circle Council decided
to confer the title of Jong-Sa [Head Master, recipients of the status of beyond the
household or higher in dharma rank or those who had been the Head Dharma Master]
on Samsan Kim Kicheon and the title of Dae-Bong-Do [recipients of a dharma merit
granted to ordained disciples] on Dosan Yi Dong-an, Sasan O Changgeon, Ilsan Yi
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Jaecheol, Gongsan Song Hyehwan, and Yuktawon Yi Dongjinhwa. In October the
following year, Eungsan Yi Wancheol also received the title of Dae-Bong-Do.
It was
the new Order’s second conferment of dharma merit.
To insure genuine substantiality of the 50 years’ fruition, Head Dharma Master
Daesan advocated the campaign to advance the dharma statuses of all believers. With
the Head Circle Council’s support, he began the preliminary dharma status assessment
of all believers for five months starting from November, Won Buddhist year 50 (1965).
As a result, with the status of quasi-Jeong-Sa or above deferred, 124 people were
evaluated as kyo-Jeong, 470 as quasi-Kyo-Jeong, 1,638 as Kyo-Seon, 2,824 as quasiKyo-Seon which totaled 5,056 people.
Since then, as a preparatory step to advancing dharma status, events were
conducted such as special supplication, household enshrinement of the Il-Won-Sang,
practicing the doctrines, implementing the doctrines, self-assessment, and assessment
by the districts.
The guidelines for dharma status assessment was adopted by the Head
Circle Council in March Won Buddhist year 55 (1970). By selecting people to take
charge of the assessment by the districts and after a close examination, which was
followed by the Head Circle Council’s review and the Head Dharma Master’s appraisal,
the dharma statuses of all believers was determined to sum up the Order’s 50 year
history on March 20th. As a result, with the status of Jeong-Sa or above deferred, 22
people were evaluated as quasi-Jeong-Sa, 503 as Kyo-Jeong, 826 as quasi-Kyo-Jeong,
3,167 as Kyo-Seon, 5,326 as quasi-Kyo-Seon, to make up the total number of people
who were of the status quasi-Kyo-Seon or above and up to quasi-Jeong-Sa reach 9,844
out of 600,000 believers.
In September Won Buddhisty year 55 (1979), following the dharma status
assessment, the believers’ levels of ability to train in the doctrines was evaluated. This
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study was conducted in order to further improve the study environment through the
believers’ correct understanding of the doctrines and the promotion of practicing the
faith.
There was also an attempt to organize ordained clergy edification groups.
4. Implementing the Examination System and Improving the Institutions and
Organizations
In Won Buddhist year 46 (1961), the regulations governing both the
propagator’s certificate examination and the ministers’ examination system were
enacted.
The regulations governing the Examination, which was enacted in April Won
Buddhist year 49 (1964) was carried out from that year. After multiple meetings the
first Examination Committee announced 24 successful applicants who passed the first
three-day Examination starting from February 4th, of the fiftieth year of Won Buddhism
(1965).
The Examination focused on the three subjects of Cultivating the Spirit, Inquiry
into Human Affairs and Universal Principles, and Mindful Choice in Action. The
subject of Cultivating the Spirit was marked on the basis of the applicant’s devotion to
reciting the Buddha’s name and to seated meditation. The subject of Inquiry into
Human Affairs and Universal Principles was marked on the basis of the applicant’s
understanding of the Principal Book, Dae-Jong-Geong, the Essential Discourses of
Buddha, the Book of Ceremonial, the Won-Buddhist Constitution, the History of WonBuddhism, and so forth as well as the ability to address the public and to keep a fixedterm diary. Finally the subject of Mindful Choice in Action was marked on the basis of
the applicant’s level of mindfulness and moral conduct.
The passing or failing of an
applicant was determined by the applicant’s total score.
Through such annual
examinations ever since then, 218 believers were newly certified to become propagators
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by the half-year centennial commemorating general assembly (Won Buddhist year 56
[1971]).
In April Won Buddhist year 40 (1955), Su-Deok-Hwoe, a social gathering of
Jeonmu-Chulshin was formed.
This was followed by Jeong-To-Hwoe, a social and
cultural meeting of the parents of Jeonmu-Chulshin.
In Won Buddhist year 45 (1960),
the Consociation of the Student Association was established, followed by the
Consociation of the Believers’ Association in Won Buddhist year 47 (1962).
Finally,
the Central Youth Association and the Consociation of Charity Organizations was
formed in Won Buddhist year 48 (1963). The summer public-service activities for the
students majoring in Won-Buddhism at Won-kwang College also began, and in
December, tentative teaching material for the Children’s Association (proposed by the
Department of Religious Affairs) was drawn up. From Won Buddhist year 49 (1964),
the Children’s Society began its short-term training classes and in Won Buddhist year 55
(1970), the Conference of the Sacred Ground Development was inaugurated in the
Yeonggwang region.
As of March 28th, of the forty-nineth year of Won Buddhism (1964), the Wonkwang School Group was separated from the Won-Buddhist Religious Foundation and
in May Won Buddhisty year 54 (1969), the inauguration of an edification foundation
was attempted, followed by the separation of Yeongsan Branch Office (with Yi Jungwha
as the head) from Yeongsan Zen Center and the Yeongsan District in March Won
Buddhist year 55 (1970).
In January Won Buddhist year 56 (1971), the Won-Buddhist
Credit Union (with Song Woncheol as the chief director) was established.
Meanwhile, in May Won Buddhist year 41 (1956), a lot of ideas were collected
to unfold a campaign to build the new way of life.
In July a research committee for the
improvement of the way of life for the religious workers was formed.
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In December
Won Buddhist year 47 (1962), Yiheung Orchard was sold and the proceeds from the sale
was used to purchase more rice fields in order to maintain the operation of the General
Headquarters.
This was followed by the sale of the Hwangdeung Chestnut Orchard for
the expansion of the facility at the Wongkwang Temple.
In April Won Buddhist year
50 (1965), the Bohwawon of Iksan was consolidated with the Iri Orphanage (Jo
Kabjong, the director) and from November, a monthly charity program was carried into
effect.
In July Won Buddhist year 52 (1967), the Seoul Bohwawon was absorbed into
Hongjewon as its subsidiary in accordance with the monastic policy. In the 1940’s and
the early 1950’s, the Order’s institutions and organizations were established,
reorganized, abolished, and consolidated.
5. Taking Part in Religious Cooperation and Launching Overseas Propagation
In April Won Buddhist year 50 (1965), the General Headquarters’ Seoul Branch
Office (with Yi Wunkwon as the head) reopened. It was the measure taken by the new
Order to further promote its domestic fruition upon entering the 1950’s.
Finally, in
June of that year, Hwang Jeongsinhang and two others (Appendix 27) participated as
the Won-Buddhist delegates in the meeting of religious persons representing the six
major religious denominations in Korea: Buddhism, Confucianism, Catholicism,
Protestantism, and Cheon-Do-Gyo.
In December, the Religious Persons’ Association
of Korea was inaugurated, and the new Order became one of the six member religions
of the Association.
The Seoul Branch Office also began the monthly publication of the “Religious
Circle” (with Yi Eunsuk as the editor-in-chief) and by setting up the Association’s office
within its office, it seemed as though it would become the center of religious
cooperation.
Although the monthly periodical had suspended publication after seven
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issues, due to financial hardship, discussions about the new Order that the periodical
brought forward, served as an opportunity to inform the world of the status of the new
Order.
In February Won Buddhist year 51 (1966), negotiations with the government to
dispatch Won Buddhist ministers as military chaplains began.
On October 15th of the
same year, the third research meeting of the Religious Persons’ Association, (which was
the meeting for the understanding of Won-Buddhism), was held at the General
Headquarters.
This in turn led the people of other religious denominations to become
aware of the new Order. Since then, the Order actively took part in the activities of the
Association. The Order’s Chief Administrator (Pak Jangsik) in February Won Buddhist
year 55 (1970), and the speaker of the General Assembly (Mun Donghyeon) in
December Won Buddhist year 56 (1971), were respectively elected to be the vice
president of the Association.
Meanwhile, the Won-Buddhism Research Society of Won-kwang College,
acting in concert with the Order’s religious cooperation activities, started the University
Students’ Religious Festival, which turned into a regular practice for many years.
In
November Won Buddhist year 52 (1967), the representative from the Youth Association
participated in a social meeting of other youth representatives from seven major
religions, through which measures to solidify religious cooperation were proposed.
Pak Jangsik and many other representatives of the Order participated in the World
Conference of Buddhist Leaders held in Seoul in October Won Buddhist year 55 (1970),
and the following year, they participated in the Korea-Japan Buddhists’ Friendship
Seminar, which was held in Busan in July Won Buddhist year 56 (1971). This marked
the beginning of international religious cooperation activities.
The overseas propagation objective, which the Order had been meaning to
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accomplish since the early 1940’s, took its first step when Pak Kwangjeon and 2 others
(Appendix 28) visited Japan for a month in search of an opportunity to propagate in
Japan.
Two Americans who read the English booklet “Won-Buddhism” and articles
written about the new Order in the overseas Buddhist papers joined the Order for the
first time.
In Won Buddhist year 50 (1965), the provisional version of the “Won-
Buddhism Handbook” was translated into Chinese, German, and Japanese while the
new Order was first introduced in a Chinese newspaper.
In March Won Buddhist year
51 (1966), a minister (Seo Sein) was dispatched to Japan for two months, again to
search for ways to propagate. In November, Hwang Jeongsinhang was sent to the
World Conference of Buddhists held in Thailand, while Yi Kongju was sent on a tour of
Hongkong, Thailand, and Japan.
In August Won Buddhist year 52 (1967), the students
who had been studying in the United States (Jeon Palgeun and Jeong Chuseong) were
placed in charge of American affairs for the first time.
was published in Chinese as a provisional version.
That year, the Principal Book
In September Won Buddhist year
53 (1968), Yi Wunkwon was sent to China for an inspection of the Chinese Buddhist
Circle while in December, the Dharmakaya Buddha was enshrined for the first time in
the home of a believer in New York who was of American nationality. Dr. Kang Wijo,
a religious scholar, introduced the new Order to the American academic circle by
presenting the result of his study entitled “Won-Buddhism of Korea and Korean
Society”.
In April Won Buddhist year 54 (1969), Kim Jeongyong was sent to participate
in the World Conference of Buddhists held in Malaysia and in the same year the English
version of the Won-Buddhism Handbook was published.
In July 1969, a student
studying in China (Kim Daehyeon) was placed in charge of the affairs in China for the
first time.
In July Won Buddhist year 55 (1970), Pak Jangsik was sent for 10 days to
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inspect Japan’s religious circle and in October, Pak Kwangjeon and three others
(Appendix 29) were dispatched to the First World Peace Conference of Religious
Persons held in Japan. This marked the Order’s first participation in international
religious cooperation activities.
Prominent religious figures were invited to the
Order’s half centennial commemoration conference.
Also, in May Won Buddhist year
56 (1971), Pak Kwangjeon and three others (Appendix 30) participated in the Peace
Conference of Religious Persons to Promote World Federation, and in October, the
Scripture of Won-Buddhism, the English Version (translated by Jeon Palgeun) was
published as one of the half centennial commemoration projects.
Entering the 50's, the
new Order began to further direct its attention to overseas propagation.
Chapter 5. The Fruits of A Half Century
1. Affirmation of the New Order and Preparations for the Half Century
From the very beginning, it was Sotaesan’s intention to establish a new Order
with its origin in the Buddha’s teaching and the doctrines of all other religions
incorporated into its creed to create a harmonious religion. This purpose became clearer
when the new Order promulgated “Won-Buddhism” as its official name in Won
Buddhist year 33 (1948), and stipulated in the Won Buddhist Constitutuion that
Sotaesan was the founder.
Through the outline of the Won-Buddhist teaching in the
Principal Book, the new Book of Ceremonial, and the Sacred Monument dedicated to
Sotaesan, this purpose was further affirmed to the world.
However, while the Order was yet to be fully recognized by the country and
society, the May Sixteenth Revolution broke out in Won Buddhist year 46 (1961), after
which the Order was required by decree to re-register all its institutions and
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organizations with the new government.
In August, the following year, the
revolutionary government enforced the Buddhist Property Management Statute
(designed to end the factional rivalry among the Buddhist denominations) on the new
Order, and demanded re-registration.
Hence, the four members of the committee
(Appendix 31) submitted a petition to the authorities concerning and directly arranging
a compromise, thus making clear the new Order’s position. The result was that the
Order was given a government reply based on the resolution by the Religious
Deliberation Council, which ruled on November 22nd, of the forty-seventh year of Won
Buddhism (1962) that the “Won-Buddhist order is not an organization required to apply
for the Buddhist Property Management Statute in view of the circumstances
surrounding its establishment, its present situation, and its true nature.”
Moreover, in
the government-issued document dated November, of the fifty-third year of Won
Buddhism (1968), the position of the new Order was again declared and made clear.
In October Won Buddhist year 48 (1963), the Head Circle Council decided that
the 55th anniversary celebration event would take place in Won Buddhist year 56 (1971).
At the meeting of the Administrative Committee that followed, 20 research committee
members were selected to be entrusted with the task of outlining the work promotion
program.
In April Won Buddhist year (1964), at the meeting of the General Assembly,
the Half Centennial Commemoration Project Committee (with Pak Gwangjeong as the
chairperson and Jeong Gwnaghun as the executive officer) was inaugurated. Its
objectives included the construction of a memorial hall, the Shrine of Eternal
Commemoration [YeongMo-Jeon], the sacred tower dedicated to Head Dharma Master
Chongsan, the expansion of the Shrine of Eternal Commemoration and the General
Headquarters’ sites, the expansion and solemnification of the sacred ground of
Yeongsan, an English translation of the Won-Buddhist Scripture (The Principal Book of
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Won-Buddhism and Dae-Jong-Gyeong [the Analects of Sotaesan]), the publication of
the commemorative writings, and preparations for the commemorative events.
In April Won Buddhist year 51 (1966), there was a partial reorganization of the
executives of the Half Centennial Commemorative Project Committee (with Kim
Jeongnam as the executive officer), and from Won Buddhist year 54 (1969), the
expansion of the Shrine of Eternal Commemoration and the General Headquarters’ sites
and the new construction of the Head Dharma Master’s office proceeded, followed by
the construction of the Half Centennial Memorial Hall, the Shrine of Eternal
commemoration [Yeong-Mo-Jeon], and the sacred tower dedicated to Head Dharma
Master Chongsan.
The editing of the Half Centennial Commemorative Writings and
the English translation of the Won-Buddhist Scripture also followed. In April Won
Buddhist year 55 (1970), the Administrative Committee added to its list of
commemorative projects the construction of a memorial hall in Seoul.
The
construction began in October that year in Namhan River, but this created a lot of trials
for all Won Buddhists and a committee to control the situation was organized. In
March Won Buddhist year 56 (1971), the Administrative Committee and the Head
Circle Council agreed to hold the commemoration conference in October of that year.
2. Establishing Cultivation Facilities and Systematizing Corporate Foundations
The Head Circle Council voted in April Won Buddhist year 48 (1963) for the
resolution to construct a monastery as a sanatorium facility for Jeong-Nam [ordained
celibate male disciples] and Jeong-Nyeo [ordained celibate female disciples].
The
monastery had been planned by Sotaesan from early on but it was during the time of
Head Dharma Master Chongsan that the measures were sought and the funds raised, to
allow the official inauguration of the monastery with Yi Kongju as the facility’s first
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director.
The monastery later purchased the building site in Hannam-dong, Seoul,
from the government and thus contributed to the complete transfer of ownership. It
operated a brewery for quite some time, and in January Won Buddhist year 55 (1970), it
sought to establish an oriental medicine facility in a building it had purchased in Jongroo-ga.
Meanwhile, Haseom (an island) in Byeonsan, which was purchased by the
monastery following the proposal made by Buan Temple (with Jeong Yangjin as the
Won Buddhist minister in charge) in Won Buddhist year 39(1954), became the new
Order’s maritime cultivation center. According to the request of Master Chungsan, the
site of the spritual cultivation center in Sindo, Chungnam was purchased in Won
Buddhist year 46 (1961). And Namseon Won Temple also moved to this place. This
site continuously expanded and additional buildings were purchased for 7 years with the
support of Head Dharma Master Daesan. This continued until the Head Circle Council
adopted the resolution to establish Samdong Cultivation Center (Yi Byeongeun, the first
director) in October Won Buddhist year 52 (1967). It began to function as a special
sanatorium in a place with an historical background.
In addition, Manduk Mountain in Jin-an, which had special ties with the new
Order since its early years, began undergoing development, in Won Buddhist year 52
(1967), to transform into a cultivation facility in which the congruity of meditation and
farming would be advocated.
The Order’s other nursing home facilities in various
places were also functioning as cultivation centers and thus contributed to the mental
cultivation of the Order’s elderly persons who contributed much to Won Buddhism.
Meanwhile, although the Order’s various industrial institutions had repeatedly
gone through their peaks and falls, Bohwadang made a big financial contribution to the
other departments with Yi Dongan, Song Hyehwan, and Jo Huisuk succeeding the
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position of chief executive officer respectively. In April Won Buddhist year 49 (1964),
Bohwadang absorbed Samjungdang Pharmaceutical Company in Iri. In September the
Bohwadang Pharmaceutical Company was established, whose main item of business
was Kyeongokgo, the herbal medicine that is effective in stabilizing blood circulation.
Bohwadang became a corporation in which industry and commerce advanced side-byside. In July Won Buddhist year 55 (1970), Bohwadang of Seoul (with Yi Kongju as
the chairperson of the board of directors and Yi Cheolhaeng as the president of the
company) was established in Jongro-o-ga in order to facilitate the Company’s advance
into the nation’s capital and to branch out into foreign markets.
By establishing
Bohwadang of Iri (with Yi Cheolhaeng as the president) in front of Iri Station in July
Won Buddhist year 57 (1972), the Corporate Foundation Bohwadang began to
systematize.
3. Youth Movement and Promotion of the Press
In Won Buddhist year 48 (1963), the Central Youth Association was formed.
The Won-Buddhist Youth Association, which elected its first president (Kwon Seyeong)
in July Won Buddhist year 49 (1964), adopted the resolutions to organize the WonBuddhist Alumni Association in universities. These resolutions served to materialize
the Order’s founding philosophy through public service, to construct the Youth Center,
and to expand the organization of the Youth Association in each temple.
In July Won
Buddhist year 50 (1965), it launched campaigns to put up doorplates on the believers’
front doors (to indicate their religious faith), clean up one’s surroundings, and send out
the books of Won-Buddhism.
In September Won Buddhist year 51 (1966), the second
president of the Youth Association (Kim Jeongyong) began the publication of the
monthly Won-Buddhist Youth Association Newsletter, which contributed to the Order’s
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edification work.
Starting in April Won Buddhist year 52 (1967), he also held lecture
meetings of the Won-Buddhist philosophies around the major cities nationwide,
including Seoul.
In July Won Buddhist year 55 (1970), the Youth Conference was held
in the General Headquarters, in which the Associations’ contribution to the Order’s half
centennial projects were pledged.
In July Won Buddhist year 56 (1971), the National
Conference of Youth Leaders was held in the General Headquarters, followed by the
National Youth Cultivation Meeting in Haseom, through which the Won-Buddhist
youths further solidified the fruition of the half century of Won Buddhism.
Meanwhile, Wongkwangsa, the publishing organ self-equipped with a printing
apparatus in February Won Buddhist year 42 (1957), continued the publication of the bimonthly or quarterly periodical Won-kwang along with periodicals by the General
Headquarters and the Order-established schools. In July Won Buddhist year 47 (1962),
the Won-Buddhist Memorial Photo Album Editorial Committee published the WonBuddhist Memorial Photo Album that was composed of four sections, including the
introductory section and the section dedicated to the memory of Sotaesan. In May
Won Buddhist year 49 (1964), the Department of General Affairs (with Kim Geunsu as
the head) began its publication of the monthly Won-Buddhist Newspaper which
continued until March Won Buddhist year 54 (1969) and published 60 issues.
In Won Buddhist year 53 (1968), Jeonghwasa began the Complete WonBuddhist Writings Collection project, through which the Order’s early periodicals
(Month-End Communications [Wolmal-tongsin], Monthly Newsletter, [Wolbo], and
Won-Buddhist Newsletter [Hoebo]) and historical documents and materials compiled
for the early Books of Won-Buddhism, were published annually in six volumes.
In
March Won Buddhist year 54 (1969), it established the Won-Buddhist News Company
(with Kim Jeongyong as the president and Jo Jeonggeun as the editor), which published
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the bi-monthly Won-Buddhist News.
The promotion and development of the Order’s
press greatly achieved the mission of spreading information to the public and culture.
Furthermore, in July, the Won-Buddhist Publishing Company was established as an
annex to Wongkwangsa.
It continued with the publication of the Scriptures of Won-
Buddhism and the Book of Hymns in reduced-size editions, followed by the Half
Centennial Commemoration Project Committee’s issuing of the Half Centennial
Commemorative Writings.
Moreover, the Research Institute of Religious Issues (Yu
Kihyeon, the director) published An Outline of Religions in Korea and compiled the
Dictionary of Won-Buddhism.
As was seen, the new Order’s press and publishing
branch began to be considerably active starting from the late 1940’s.
4. Religious Influence during the First Half Century
According to the summary of the number of believers of the Won-Buddhist
faith, configured up until March Won Buddhist year 56 (1971) and prior to the half
centennial commemoration conference, the number of lay believers exceeded 600,000,
including those who were yet to be officially initiated into the Order. The number of
ordained believers reached over 1,000, including the preparatory religious workers.
Although the Order’s assets were divided into those belonging to the Religious
Foundation of Won-Buddhism and those to the Academic Foundation of Won-Buddhism,
the management of the properties was united through the unification of the board of
trustees.
The Order’s organs consisted of the following: 24 organs, including the General
Headquarters and its departments as well as organs held under the direct supervision of
the General Headquarters, such as the Seoul Office and Yeongsan Branch Office; 12
education and training organs, including the Central Training Center, Dongsan Zen
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Center, Yeongsan Zen Center, Won-kwang University, Won-kwang Middle and High
Schools for Boys, Won-kwang Middle and High Schools for Girls, Won-kwang Civil
Education School, Haeryong Agricultural Technology School, Haeryong Middle School,
and Won-kwang Kindergarten; 4 publishing and cultural organs, including
Wongkwangsa, Jeonghwasa, Won-Buddhist News Company, and Won-Buddhist
Publishing Company; 6 cultivation and nursing facilities, including the monastery,
Samdong Cultivation Center, Haseom Cultivation Center, Dongrae Cultivation Center,
Central Cultivation Center, and Jeonju Nursing Home; 3 sanatorium and charity
facilities, including Donghwa Hospital, Central Sanatorium, and Iri Orphanage; 7
industrial organs, including Bohwadang, Bohwadang Pharmaceutical Company,
Bohwadang of Seoul, the General Headquarters Farm, Sugye Farr, Manduksan Farm,
and Yuil Rice-Cleaning Mill (under the direct supervision of the Finance Department);
over 50 organizations, including the main and branch offices of the Youth Association,
the Student Association, the Children’s Association, Sudeokhwoe, a social gathering of
Jeonmu-Chulshin and Jeongtohwoe, a social and culture meeting of the parents of
Jeonmu-Chulshin.
The temples were established in the following places: 60 temples in the
Province of Jeolabuk-do, including Iri, East Iri, South Jungdong, Jeonju, Gyodong, East
Jeonju, West Jeonju, Kunsan, Iksan, Hamra, Keumma, Palbong, Sugye, Samrye,
Dongsan, Bongsang, Maryeong, Jwapo, Jin-an, Baekwun, Ancheon, Muju, Jangsu,
Sanseo, Gwanchon, Imsil, Osu, Geumpyeong, Jisa, Namwon, Suji, Wunbong, Sandong,
Ayeong, Bojeol, North Ayeong, Inwol, Sunchang, Hwahae, Shin-Tae-in, Seungbu,
Jeongeup, Yonggak, Gamgok, sosung, Tae-in, Chilbo, Gobu, Deokcheon, Gochang,
Heungdeok, Haeri, Buan, Wonpyeong, Yongsin, Hwapo, Kimje, Geumgu, Mangyeong,
and imsan; 28 temples in the Province of Jeolanam-do, including Gwangju, West
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Gwangju, South Gwangju, Gyerim, Mokpo, Yeosu,Suncheon, Yeongsan, Sinheung,
Wangchon, Daema, Doyang, Bulgab, Yeonggwang, Gunnam, Daeksu, Beopseong,
Jangseong, Haebo, Changpyeong, Gokseong, Gyeommyeon, Gurye, Boseong, Yeongam,
Bulmok, Wando, and Aphaedo; 14 temples in Seoul, including Seoul, Jongro, Wonnam,
Donam, Songcheon, Sincheon, Sajik, Jeongreung, Dapsim-ri, Hwagok, Bulgwang-dong,
Pil-dong, Cheongpa, and Jegi-dong; 6 temples in the Province of Kyeonggi-do,
including Uijongbu, Incheong, Suwon, Ganghwa, Bucheon, and Anyang; 3 temples in
the Province of Kangwong-do, including Chunsheon, South Chuncheon, and
Hwacheon; 8 temples in the Province of Chungcheongnam-do, including Daejeon,
Geumsan, Jewon, Chubu, Yuseong, Sindo, dogok, and Kanggyeong; 2 temples in the
province of Chungcheongbuk-do, including Cheongju and Goesan; 14 temples in Busan,
including Dangri, Gyeongnam, Choryang, Dadae, Busanjin, Seomyeon, Daongrae,
Daesin, Gupo, Yeongdo, Nambumin, Dawundae, Cheonghak, and Geojedo; 9 temples in
the Province of Kyeongsangnam-do, including Masan, Shin-Masan, Jinju, Tongyeong,
Jinhae, Ulsan, Samcheonpo, Yongam, Jinyeong, Kimhae, Hamyang, Jigok, Milyang,
Changwon, Hapcheon, Gijang, Goseong, Uiryeong, and Yangsan; and 2 temples in the
Province of Jeju-do, including Jedu and Seogwipo.
Edification offices were
established in the following places: 10 in the Province of Jeolabuk-do, including
Deokjin, Gosan, Jungpyeong, Janggye, Samae, Bokheung, Changdong, Mujang, Mapo,
and Bonghwang; 2 in the Province of Jeolanam-do, including Damyang and Naju; 1 in
Janghang in the province of Chungcheongnam-do; and 1 in Gyeongsan in the Province
of Kyeongsangbuk-do. Edification offices newly-established that year were those in
Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, in Sandong, Jeolanam-do, in Yimun-dong, Seoul, and
in Hamyeol, Jeolabuk-do.
Those in Jangsando, Jeolanam-do and in Gangneung,
Kangwon-do were being established.
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5.
Constructing the Half Centennial Memorial Hall, the Shrine of Eternal
Commemoration and the Sacred Tower Dedicated to Head Master Chongsan
In October Won Buddhist year 56 (1971), prior to the Half Centennial
Commemoration Conference, the Half Centennial Memorial Hall was completed.
The
Memorial Hall was equipped with the grand-sized Il-Won-Sang mounted on the front
wall.
A few rooms on the ground floor and the third floor were to be used for the
order’s major events; the rooms were used as the offices for different departments.
Furthermore, the Shrine of Eternal Commemoration was also completed around
this time.
It had been 22 years since it was decreed by the Won-Buddhist Constitution.
The Shrine of Eternal Commemoration, whose cornerstone had been laid below the pine
forest in Yeongmo-Won (Won-Buddhism Memorial Park), had its memorial tablets
positioned according to the specifications in the new Book of Ceremonial.
In the main
section, the tablet commemorating Sotaesan was placed in the center of the top shelf
and the tablet memorializing the spirits of those who had attained the title of Jong-Sa
(Head Master, recipients of the status of beyond the household or higher in dharma rank,
or those who had been the Head Dharma Master) was positioned in the center of the
middle shelf.
Placed directly to the left of the Jong-Sa tablet was the tablet
representing the spirits of those who had attained the title of Dae-Bong-Do (recipients
of a dharma merit granted to ordained disciples) and directly to the right, the tablet
memorializing the spirits of those had received the title of Dae-Ho-Bup (recipients of a
dharma merit granted to non-clerical believers). To the left of the Dae-Bong-Do tablet,
the tablet representing the spirits of Jeonmu-Chulshin (ordained disciples) of all classes
and that memorializing the spirits of regular ordained disciples were placed. To the
right of the Dae-Ho-Bup tablet, the tablet commemorating the spirits of Keojin-Chuljin
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(non-clerical believers highly learned and exemplary in practice, who have greatly
contributed to the work of the Order) of all classes and that memorializing the spirits of
regular lay believers were positioned.
In the left section, the tablet dedicated to all
classes of Hee-Sa-Wui (status granted to the parents of the worthies with the dharma
rank of Dharma Strong and Mara Defeated or higher) was placed on the upper shelf and
that to ordinary parents and forefathers was positioned on the lower shelf. In the right
section, the tablet for ancient sages was placed on the upper shelf and that for all living
beings was placed on the lower shelf.
Thereby, all sages and all living beings in the
three worlds in the ten directions, with Sotaesan and all the ancestors after him as the
center, were collectively represented to be memorialized. At the time, the number of
ancestors whose tablets were placed in the main section of the Shrine reached over 700.
Moreover, the sacred tower dedicated to Head Master Chongsan was erected
next to the Shrine of Eternal Commemoration. The tower was constructed on top of a
foundation platform made of granite.
Three rectangular stones were placed in such a
way that it created rectangular-shaped layers of stones.
Master Chongsan.
Inside are the remains of Head
The inscriptions were engraved in the front and the back of the
layers of stones, which was topped by the stone seat in the shape of lotus and the
spherical stone. The remains of Head Master Chongsan, which had been temporarily
placed in Songdae for 9 years since the Head Master’s passing, were finally enshrined
inside the sacred tower.
The inscription on the Tower written by Head Dharma Master Daesan read:
“When Head Master Chongsan was endlessly serving Sotaesan and putting into practice
the task of redeeming all sentient beings and healing the world, his faith was always
firm and consistent while his aspiration and planning penetrated the whole universe.
He carried on and manifested the Great Path, surmounting all the difficulties of his time,
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while embracing all living beings in his nurturing bosom of great loving-kindness and
compassion, even in the midst of the panic-stricken world and its people.
Toward the
world which had been longing for a new order, he raised his voice high for the Great
Way, leading to the construction of the World of Il-Won.
To the generation of disciples
to follow, who will admire and revere their forefathers unobtrusively, Sotaesan is
heaven and the sun while Head Master Chongsan is earth and the moon.
Sotaesan is
our father who gave birth to our spirits, while Head Master Chongsan is our mother who
raised our spirits.”
6. Half Centennial Commemoration Conference
For six days from October 7th, of the fifty-sixth year of Won Buddhism (1971),
the new Order held the Half Centennial Commemoration Conference to reflect on the
meaning of the fruit of the 50 years’ work, which Sotaesan had foreshadowed. On the
7th, the Conference, which had been held under the theme proposed by Head Dharma
Master Daesan: “Truth is one, the world is one, humanity is of one family, the world is
one place of work, let us build the World of Il-Won”, proceeded with the exhibition of
the articles left by Sotaesan.
This was followed by the ceremony to celebrate the
completion of the Shrine of Eternal Commemoration, the memorial tablet enshrinement
ceremony, the dedication ceremony, the unveiling of the sacred tower dedicated to Head
Master Chongsan, and the eve of the Conference celebration.
On the 8th, following the
Half Centennial Memorial Hall completion ceremony and the Il-Won-Sang
enshrinement ceremony, the Half Centennial Commemoration Ceremony was
performed in the Won-kwang University Square.
The Ceremony was attended by leading figures in the three branches of the
government, religious delegations, the press, and many religious persons from overseas,
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including the United States, China and Japan. Over 40,000 representatives of the
believers from over 200 temples and organizations gathered.
After both the opening
address by the conference coordinator, Pak Gwangjeon, and the gratitude speech by
Head Dharma Master Daesan, the progress report was given and prizes were awarded,
followed by congratulatory addresses from the representatives of the political, religious,
and overseas religious circles. The four conference resolutions proposed by the Chief
Administrator, Yi Wunkwon, were adopted and cheers for Won-Buddhism were recited
three times before the conference came to a close.
In the opening address, working towards a new Order for humanity and of
humanity was emphasized.
In the gratitude speech it was preached that the power of
neutralization could be demonstrated through the threefold study; the power of moral
reform through the fourfold grace; and the power of impartiality through practicing the
four essentials. The four resolutions adopted in the conference were as follows:
In the
future, the new Order is to 1) become the host who will take the initiative in attaining
world peace, recognizing all religions and the world’s humanity as one; 2) establish the
world order through equality without a gap between the wealthy and the poor or racial
or ethnic discrimination; 3) achieve a worldwide spiritual movement based on the
traditional wisdom of the eternal race; 4) discuss the accommodation of all religions
through international organizations of religious cooperation and make religion a part of
people’s daily life through faith in a religion based on truth and training in morality
based on facts.
After the commemoration ceremony, calisthenics were performed by a grand
mass of students attending the middle and high schools operated and managed by the
Order. This was followed by lectures on philosophy by scholars from all over the world
(Appendix 32).
Then, an art festival was held in celebration of the occasion.
135
On the
9th, an athletic meeting and the doctrinal lecture meeting were conducted, followed by
the general conference of the religious workers on the 10th, through which discussions
were held with regard to the Order’s new directions.
Nine resolutions of the religious
workers were adopted. On the 12th, there was the unveiling of the sacred monument
memorializing Sotaesan’s great enlightenment.
This had been Yi Kongju’s long-
desired project that took place in the holy ground of Yeongsan.
The Half Centennial
Commemoration Conference that lasted for 6 days came to a close.
Since then, Won
Buddhism has continued to march forward with new visions for the future, while
keeping in mind the virtuous and memorable work of the great teachers and
practitioners of the past.
136
Appendix
1
Ryu Jeongcheon
Kim Hwaok
Shin Jeongrang
Seo Kichae
Kim Yeongcheol
Yi Kongju
Pak Yeonghwan
Shin Yeonsuk
Yi Dongan
Song Jeokbyeok
3
Song Gyu
Song Doseong
4
Song Gyu
Kim Kwangseon
5
Seo Jungan
Kim Namcheon
Kim Kwangseon
Jeon Eumkwang
Song Jeokbyeok
Yi Hyeongong
Yi Cheolok
Yi Dongan
Seong Seongwon
Im Dongak
Song Mankyeong
Yi Seonggak
Ku Namwu
Yi Junkyeong
Jo Kabjong
Mun Jeonggyu
Yi Junkyeong
Yi Ilgeun
Jeon Eumkwang
O Changgeon
Min Jayeonhwa
Yi Dongan
Kim Duhwan
Mun Jeonggyu
8 Yi Kongju
Yi Cheongpung
Yi Chunpung
O Changgeon
Song Mankyeong
Kim Namcheon
Shin Jeonggwon
Yi Dongan, Yi Junkyeong
Yi Cheongchun
6 Kim Kicheon
Song Doseong
Kim Dongsun
Kim Hyeweol
O Changgeon
Jeon Eumkwang
7 Kim Kwangseon
Ryu Kiman
O Changgeon
Pak Wonseok
Pak Wonseok
Kim Suncheon
Kim Myeongrang
Song Byeokjo
Song Mankyeong
Seo Jungan
Yang Hawun
Yi Wunwei
2
Song Gyu
Mun Jeonggyu
Yi Wonhwa
Pak Kongmyeongseon
Yi Jeongwon
Sim Owun
Kim Nakwon
Yi Dongjinhwa
9 Yi Wancheol
Jeong Ilsu
Yi Wonhwa
Shin Jeongguk Yi Hyeongguk
Shin Bongguk
Yi Kwangsu
Yi Cheongab
Ju Kongin
Yi Hochun
Jin Kwangsin
Pak Yongseon
10 O Changgeon
Choe Dohwa
Kim Namcheon
11 Yi dongan
Jo Kabjong
Jeong Eumkwang
Kim Kwangseon
Yi Cheongchun
Kim Kicheon
Song Gyu
Yi Chunpung
Yi Jaecheol
137
Mun Jeonggyu
Yi Boguk
Seo Jungan
12 Song Gyu
Song Doseong
13 Pak Sashihwa
Jo Kabjong
Jang Jeokjo
Yang Hawun
Kim Kicheon
Song Doseong
Yi Dongan
Jeon Eumkwang
Yi Wonhwa
O Changgeon
Yi Hyeongong
Kim Dongsun
Jo Kabjong
Choe Dohwa
14 Pak Secheol
Seo Dongpung
Jeon Eumkwang
Seolsanghwa
Kim Namcheon
Kim Kyeongjo
Pak Bosunhwa
15 Song Byeokjo
Kim Kicheon
Song Wolsu
Min Jayeonhwa
Yi Mangab
Ku Namsu
Shin Yeonsuk
Kim
Yi Hyeonggu
Song Gyu
Song Doseong
Yi Dongjinhwa
Yi Kongju
16 Yi Chunpung
Jeon Eumkwang
Yi Dongan
Kwangseon
Kim Namcheon
Jo Kabjong
Yi Hochun
Yi Hyeongguk
Jo Songgwang
Bonghwan
Yi Junkyeong
Shin Jeongrang
Yi Wonhwa
Cheongpung
Yi Hyeongong
Jo Sunhwan
Kim Mankongweol
O Changgeun
Seong Jeongcheol
Jeon Samsam
Jang Jeokjo
Kim
Mun Jeonggyu
Pak Daewan
Choe Dohwa
Min Jayeonwha
Jo Jeonkwon
Song
Pak Sashihwa
Ku Namsu
Yi Jeongwon
Jeong Seweol
Yi Mangab
Mun Hwasun
Yi
Son Hakkyeong
Yi Seongcho
Yi Cheolok
Yi Seonggak
No Deoksongok
Kim Nakwon
Sim
Jeong Sambohwa
Pak Haewonok
Pak Kongmyeonseon
Yi Daekyeo
Yi Chulrokhwa
Yi Manseonhwa
Jeong Ilseong
Song Doseong
18 Mu Jeonggyu
Kim Yeongsin
Kim Sammaehwa
Seong Seongwon
Kwon Donghwa
Yi Kangyeonhwa
Kim Jeonggak
Choe Hyangok
17 Song Gyu
Yi Jaecheol
Yi Wunwoe
Yeo Chungwun
Owun
Yi Wancheol
Yi Chungchun
Kim Suncheon
Song Mankyeong
Jeon Eumkwang
Kim Kwangseon
Yu Heoil
Jeon Samsam
138
Son Hakkyeong
Kwon Donghwa
Kim
Byeongcheol
Yi Junkyeong
Jeong Seweol
Yi Manseonhwa
Yi Daekyo
Jeong Naseon
Kim Jeonggak
Kim Hongcheol
Yi Hochun
Seo Daewon
Yi Wancheol
Yi Dongan
Kuil
Yi Cheongchun
Hyangok
Yi Boguk
Kim Daegeo
Yi Wonhwa
Yi Wunwoe
Pak Sasihwa
Seongwon
Min Jayeonhwa
Yi Seonggak
Yi Cheolok
No Deoksongok
19 Yang Hawun
Jo Wonseon
Ju Inkwon
Jo Songgwang
Han Guicheol
Yi Boeunghwa
Kim Ilhyeon
Yi Keonyang
Wuyeonhwa
Kim Hesun
Jeon Yongsunok
Song Ilhwan
O Sungak
Jeong Hwadamok
Kim Taesun
Kim Kowun
Kim Yeongsanhwa
20 Yi Kongju
Shin Wonyo
Kim Baekhyeon
Service)
Jo Ilgwan
Song Hyehwan
No Dobonghwa
Shin Jeongrang
Kim Suncheon Shin Suseok
Jin Kwangsin
Kim Jangsingab
Pak Kwangjeon
Jeong Ilsu
Kim Haedongok
Hwang Jeongsinhang
Kim Daegeo (the Head, Department of
Jeon Eumkwang (the Head, Department of Micellaneous Affairs and Public
Yi Jaecheol (the Head, Department of Industry)
22 Song Doseong
Kwon
An Kyeongsin
21 Pak Jangsik (the Head, Department of General Affairs)
Religious Affairs)
Kim Jeongdo
Kwon Hongjehwa
Kim Yangsuk
Choe Oksun
Jeon Jeonggwanok
Seong
Kim Dongsu
Choe Bongseohwa
Choe Namkyeong
Yi Hyeongong
Ryu Yongjun
Kim Taehyangok
Kim Wansu
Yi Jeongguk
Yi Jaemun
Choe Dohwa
Jeong Ilji
Kim Dongil
O Cheolsu
Yi Hyemyeonghwa
Choe
Jo Sunhwan
Yi Sanghaeng
Yun Chaewun
Jeon
Yi Jeongwon
Jang Jeongsu
Pak Haewonok
Seo Daein
Jo Kabjong
Yi Hyeongguk
Kim Yeongsin
Pak Kongmyeongseon
Min Seongkyeong
Pak Noshin
Tak Bosingab
Jo Jeonkwon
Jeong Sambohwa
Ku Namsu
Kwon Daeho
Yeo Cheongwun
Kim Sammaehwa
Pak Gilseon
Song Bonghwan
Seong Jeongcheol
Jeon Jonghwan
Seo Daewon
Yi kongju
Pak Jangsik
139
Song Gyu
23 Yi Wan cheol
Pak Jebong
Jeong Kwanghun
Yi Kwango
24 Pak Jangsik
Yi Wunkwon
Jeong Kwanghun
Yi Kongjeon
25 Pak Jangsik
Yi Wunkwon
Song Hyehwan
Kim Hongcheol
Jo Jeonkwon
Pak Kwangjeon
Seo Daein
Jo Kabjong
Yi Wancheol
Yi Taeyeon
Yi Eunseok
and few others
Kim Yunjung
Yu Heoil
O Jongtae
Yi Kyeongsun
Kim Yeongsin
Yang Dosin
Yi Dongjinhwa
26 Song Doseong
Seo Daewon
27 Hwang Jeongsinhang
Yi Kongju
Yi Wunkwon
Kim Daegeo
Song Gyu
Yi Kongjeon
28 Pak Kwangjeon
Song Yeongbong
29 Pak Kwangjeon
Kim Jeongyong
Yi Kongjeon
Jeon Palgeun
30 Pak Kwangjeon
Kim Jeongyong
Kim Yunjung
Mo Sangjun
31 Pak Kwangjeon
Yi Wunkwon
32 Yu Kihyeon
Richard A. Guard
Jeon Palgeun
Yi Kongjeon
Kim Yunjung
Yamanaka Ryuen
140
and few others